Wildfire forces thousands evacuated on Spanish island

A wildfire on the Spanish island of La Palma has blazed around 4,500 hectares of land, making thousands of people evacuated, local emergency services said on Saturday, reported Xinhua.

The fire, which broke out early morning on Saturday, has burnt the area close to the municipality of Puntagorda on the north-west region of the Canary Islands, where homes and farms are located amid pine trees, scrub and crops.

The Canary Islands' President Fernando Clavijo said that over 2,000 people had been evacuated till evening and the wind at a speed of over 60 kms an hour is expected to fan the flames.

The Canary Islands regional government has put its Civil Protection Emergency Plan for Forest Fires into operation, but the fire is spreading fast. Puntagorda Major Vicente Rodriguez said: "It is going to be very complicated."

According to local media reports, the islands' fire-fighting service is currently battling the flames, with the help of aircraft, including helicopters. More firefighters have been mobilized from the neighboring island of Tenerife. Members of the Spanish Military Emergency Unit are also expected to arrive in the coming hours.

Spain has suffered an exceptionally dry spring, with March and April seeing record high temperatures and low rainfall. Nevertheless, most of the country suffered a second heatwave of the summer last week while another heatwave is predicted by Spanish Meteorological Agency for the next week. Therefore, nearly all central and southern Spain are currently under an alert for possible wildfires.