Any fire is devastating, but on an island with the climate of Tenerife where there are hundreds of thousands of acres of Pine Forest, that are very dry due to heatwaves and a lack of rain, a small spark, a discarded cigarette butt, or a firework can easily ignite something that will spread out of control like wildfire very quickly, however, due to social media, rumours and misinformation can spread even quicker.
Forums, Facebook groups, and our inboxes have been inundated by hundreds of concerned people asking the same questions: Is it safe for me to come on holiday? Should I cancel my holiday? How will my holiday be affected?
Ultimately only you can decide if you should come to the island or not, but here is a collective answer to those questions and why.
99% of holidaymakers that visit Tenerife stay somewhere near the coast, whether in the south of the island or in Puerto de La Cruz, which are the furthest points from the fire that is located in the pine forests on the eastern and northern slopes of Teide, as you can see in this map showing the location and area the fire is covering.
In fact, from the south, you can’t see the smoke, it looks like haze, you can’t see the glow of the fires at night because they are on the other side of the island, and unlike the north side of the island where you can smell the smoke and there are ash deposits, unless there is a very strong wind in a particular direction, you can’t smell it either.
So, as far as affecting you in your holiday accommodation close to the beaches, it will not affect you at all. Also, the airports are fully open and functioning as normal, so getting to and from the island is exactly the same as usual.
However, it may affect you if you want to take a trip up to Mount Teide. Roads have been closed for precautionary reasons and to give free passage to the emergency services through the National Park to attend to the fire. As soon as the firefighters and military have the fire under control, these will be reopened which will be in a matter of days, not weeks or months, as some people are asking.
You may find that some local fiestas or firework displays are cancelled because by law they require the presence of the fire brigade to take place, and currently, they are a bit tied up.
Apart from this, everything is open and functioning as normal.
Why is this fire still out of control?
Forest fires are common in the Canary Islands due to the climate and vegetation, but most of the time you wouldn’t even know they had happened as they are contained quickly. This one is slightly different as it is an area difficult to access by land, hence the aerial support.
It has also been burning more intensely than usual due to the extreme heat and dryness of the vegetation. The weather conditions have not been favourable, so the wind has been spreading it quicker than usual. But these conditions can literally change overnight.
The fire covers 5,000 hectares at the moment, which to put it into perspective is less than a quarter of the more than 20,000 hectares of the ‘big’ fire of 2007, which incidentally, didn’t affect holidays and that was much lower down.
So, the question is: Should I stay or should I go? Well, is it safe, yes. Should I cancel my holiday, not if you are in the 99% staying near the coast. How will it affect my holiday… we’ve already answered that.
