Spain wildfire stabilised, says PM

A wildfire in the popular tourist island of Gran Canaria has been stabilised but continues to burn, Spain’s acting prime minister said on Thursday, promising that the thousands affected by the fire would get help in rebuilding.

The blaze began on Saturday near the town of Tejeda before quickly growing into one of the year’s biggest wildfires in Spain, fuelled by a combination of high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity, forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people.

“The fire is not extinguished, so we must be prudent,” Pedro Sanchez told reporters during a visit to the Canary Islands.

“To the municipalities affected by the fire and the island of Gran Canaria, we’re committing that we’re going to help, we’ll lend a hand so that day-to-day life on the island returns to what it was before the fire,” Sanchez said.

The fire has left a path of destruction across around 8 per cent of the island, with hundreds of firefighters and more than a dozen planes battling flames as high as 50m in recent days.

The damage has been contained to around 9,200 hectares of the mountainous central part of the island, rather than the coastal areas that are often teeming with tourists.

By Thursday around 7,500 of those evacuated were allowed to return to their homes.

“It is stabilised. Weather conditions were good with low temperatures and higher humidity. If everything goes well in a couple of days it will be controlled,” Federico Grillo, emergency services chief on the island, told reporters.

But he cautioned that temperatures were set to rise again in the coming days and air humidity levels will drop which could rekindle the blaze, Spain’s worst wildfire this year.

“We still can’t guarantee that the fire does not have the potential to restart. We can’t lower our guard,” he said.

Meanwhile, Spain has issued international health alerts in light of a widening outbreak of listeria from pork meat that has affected 150 people and killed one person.

Health Minister María Luisa Carcedo said on Thursday alerts had been posted to the European Union and the World Health Organization given the possibility that some tourists may be affected.

The outbreak started Aug. 15 in the southern Andalusia region and claimed its first victim, a 90-year-old woman, Monday.

Agencies