The fire that broke out on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands, continues to spread dangerously. At the time of the provisional assessments, we are talking about about 4,000 people evacuated, and more than 4,700 hectares charred. This Sunday, July 16, the weather conditions improved slightly, but the fire remains out of control, despite full mobilization.
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With our correspondent in Madrid, Francois Musseau
After the eruption of a volcano in 2021, with its houses and agricultural land ravaged, the island of La Palma saw another tragedy not far from there, a little further north. A tragedy of which we do not know what the extent of the consequences will be.
The gigantic fire continues to spread in an extremely dangerous way. Already, the municipalities of Puntagorda and Tijarafe have been almost entirely evacuated, and animals have been protected as a preventive measure.
Equally serious, the Caldera de Taburete National Park has been affected, and the rescue teams are concentrating particularly so that the damage is contained in this natural jewel.
On the spot, the mobilization is total. Firefighters, civil guards, police, Red Cross… In total, hundreds of people belonging to the ground forces, not to mention the air force, with nine helicopters and two seaplanes which have already thrown more than 250,000 liters of water, without much result so far.
All political leaders are also on deck, even though the island received a massive influx of vacationers.
Read alsoEruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands: advancing lava into the sea (2021)