It’s literally too hot to study in the Canary Islands. Authorities on Tuesday ordered schools to close for the rest of the week due to the heat wave that hit this Spanish archipelago. Regional educational authorities announced on X, formerly Twitter, “the suspension of school activities, Wednesday and Friday”, Thursday being a public holiday in Spain, “due to the weather situation”.
The Canaries, located opposite the northwest coast of Africa, face “very high temperatures and (…) a “calima””, strong hot winds loaded with sand dust coming from the Sahara, a explained their government. They are also “on maximum forest fire risk alert”. The Canaries see the mercury rise almost daily to 35°C.
Return of the fire
In addition, the fire which ravaged the island of Tenerife from mid-August and reduced 15,000 hectares to ashes, resumed a few days ago and is not under control. It was also decided to move it to level 2 (out of 3) in order to obtain reinforcements from the State to fight the flames. A decision “based on the resumption (of the fire) and this heat wave,” Rosa Dávila, president of the island authorities of Tenerife, told the press.
For almost two weeks, Spain as a whole has been experiencing record heat for this time of year. In 2022, 300,000 hectares were destroyed by more than 500 fires in Spain, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).