Tenerife wildfires: Tourists watch in horror as blaze spreads across island forcing thousands to evacuate
For just a small moment on Friday, the Canarian authorities thought they had Tenerife’s worst wildfire in over four decades under control.
But in the early hours of Saturday morning, the night sky was lit up by orange flames along the mountainous landscape.
The high winds whipped up the furious fires which started creeping toward homes and villages – putting lives at risk.
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Thousands evacuated from Tenerife
As we stepped out of our hotel in the morning, large chunks of ash were falling from the sky and the smell of smoke was apparent in the busy town of Puerto De La Cruz.
At first light, as emergency services continued to battle the blaze, officials on the ground were urging people to leave their homes.
A huge evacuation operation meant thousands have been forced to seek refuge, many leaving with very few belongings, mostly pets and animals.
The Canary Islands’ regional government said 4,000 more people were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Another 4,500 people had already been moved out of harm’s way on Friday.
Emergency services fear the number of evacuees “could surpass 26,000”.
We met Anya, sitting with her dog at the police line, she watched as the thick smoke neared her home in the distance.
“You see this happening around the world and now this island is on fire,” she said. “Seeing the smoke come closer is very difficult.”
Anya
As she saw more fire engines heading towards the blaze, she said: “I have no emotions, I have no words about what is happening. We just have to hope that the emergency services do the job and save our homes. At least we are alive, that’s what matters.”
As well as the countless fire trucks winding their way up the steep roads towards the blaze, helicopters swooped in and out of the thick smoke carrying massive buckets of water.
The usual hustle and bustle of these villages was drowned out by the noise of three helicopters tackling the fire from above.
But this has been taking a toll on the firefighters here too.
It’s now four days since the fires started and Federico Linares, president of the regional fire service said many colleagues haven’t slept as the situation worsens.
Federico Linares
He told Sky News: “Right now it’s much more dangerous, it’s a very populated area where we are and there is danger. I know it’s very unfortunate for people to leave their homes and their belongings, but it would be sadder to lose a life.”
Further down, Jesus – who’s lived on this part of the island his whole life – watched the flames roaring in disbelief.
He said he has never seen anything like it before and was “sad” to see what was happening to his “beautiful island”.
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Tenerife wildfire graphic
“I’m worried for all the locals. There are lots of farmers with land and animals that will be destroyed, the government needs to look after us,” he said.
Tenerife‘s popular tourist areas, particularly in the south, have so far been unaffected, but with the winds sending smoke into some busy towns, it’s unsettling for holidaymakers.
British school teachers, Holly and Dale travelled from St Albans, but said their holiday has been overshadowed by the wildfires.
Holly told Sky News: “We had one lovely day and then we woke up the following day and saw the fire at breakfast. It’s just terrifying, very very scary.”
Dale told us: “Waking up this morning was probably the worst day. Seeing all the ash in the swimming pool, the staff boarding everything up, the beds being taken up, it’s the end of the holiday really.”
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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