A series of devastating wildfires this summer have swept across European countries, including Spain, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, exacerbated by a scorching heatwave. These wildfires have caused evacuations, destruction, and loss of life, highlighting the urgent need for measures to combat and adapt to escalating climate conditions.
The Spanish island of Tenerife has been ravaged by what has been called an ‘out of control’ wildfire that has already spread across 1,800 hectares of the island. While five villages had to evacuate to protect the civilians, roads have been forced shut, and access to major tourist spots on the island has been blocked.
The wildfires have prompted responses from emergency services. Around 250 firefighters have been mobilized, while planes and helicopters have been deployed to Tenerife to fight the blaze. However, firefighting efforts have been hindered by hostile geographic conditions, considering the fire has spread from a mountainous national park.
Over last summer, European countries have been increasingly fighting wildfires, especially in the month of July this year. This comes as Europe was gripped by a heatwave making the countries susceptible to wildfires. The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) revealed that more than 182,569 hectares had already been reduced to ashes across the EU, which was more than 40% higher than the average recorded from 2003 to 2022.
The wildfire in Tenerife, situated in the Canary Islands archipelago, is a recent addition to the wildfires that gripped and wreaked havoc across Europe, mainly in the southern regions of the continent. Large-scale fires have already ravaged Greece and Italy, posing a huge threat to the environment including the human settlements.
Between July 23 and 25, Italian firefighters battled roughly 1,400 fires, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria, Italy's southernmost mainland area. The fires that ravaged Sicily caused more than €60 million (£51 million) in damage.