Tenerife wildfires: 3,000 evacuated from Spanish island weeks after blaze destroyed 37,000 acres of woodland

Spanish authorities have evacuated around 3,000 people from their homes on the Canary Island of Tenerife after wildfires were sparked overnight.

The wildfires started on Wednesday afternoon (4 October) following a combination of high temperatures and strong winds. A forest in the north-east of the island, which had already been seriously damaged by wildfires in August, was ripped through by the new blaze.

It has centred on the towns of Santa Ursula and La Orotava, in the north-east. The popular tourist destinations in the south-west, including Costa Adeje and Playa de las Americas, have remained unharmed and the two airports on the island are also currently unaffected.

Local emergency services on the island said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that it had request help from the army's Military Emergency Unit, describing the wildfires as a high-level emergency. Around 90 firefighters have also been deployed to tackle the blaze, according to the island's fire service.

It comes after the devastating wildfires which spread through the island in August. The fire destroyed around 37,000 acres of woodland on Tenerife and surrounded the Mount Teide volcano.