The Cabildo de Gran Canaria has declared an alert for the risk of forest fires at the summits of the island and in the southern midlands from heights above 400m altitude, and on the north from 300m above sea level. The alert was declared at 10:00 am on Friday and will be in effect until 09:00 on Monday, June 14, and prohibits the use of fire on forested land.
President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria Antonio Morales with Federico Grillo, The head of Emergencies of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria
The predictions of Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), foresees temperatures above 30ºC in the shade across almost the entire island, with continued calima in higher altitude areas, as well as the existence of a small fire in Mogán, which is in the liquidation phase, as well as the large amount of dry vegetation susceptible to burning. All these reasons have led the insular institution to activate the Plan for Insular Territorial Civil Protection of Gran Canaria due to the risk of fire.
The president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and director of the PEIN, Antonio Morales, explained that it is about “being prepared and having all the means activated and ready to act quickly and forcefully in the face of any attempt” since “the weather situation is very adverse and due to the rains there is a lot of dry vegetation ”and he asked the population“ to take extreme precautions and avoid the use of fire and elements that could cause sparks on forest land or near fire risk areas”.
Although forest land usually has no authorisations for agricultural burning, in areas where the temperature and humidity conditions are above the thresholds established, with temperatures over 30 degrees and humidity below 30%, all such authorisations are suspended.
