More than 2,000 people evacuated from Spanish island of La Palma as wildfire rages

More than 2000 people have been evacuated from the Spanish island of La Palma as a wildfire burns out of control.

The fire in La Palma started in the early hours of Saturday morning in El Pinar de Puntagorda, a wooded area at the north of the island in the Canaries.

The evacuation of Puntagorda and neighbouring Tijarafe areas comes as temperatures as Europe swelters in a heatwave which has seen temperatures soar above 40C.

About 4,500 hectares of land have been affected by the fire and at least 12 houses were destroyed, authorities said.

Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands, said: “The number of people who need to be evacuated could rise. It depends on whether we can bring these strong winds under control.”

The Spanish army deployed 150 of its firefighters to help local crews battle the blaze and other firefighters are arriving from the neighbouring island of Tenerife, Clavijo said.

Four helicopters and four firefighting units on the ground were battling to bring the fire under control in the island, which forms part of a Spanish archipelago off the coast of western Africa.

The forest fire is the first natural crisis on the island since a volcanic eruption in September 2021.

More than 2,000 buildings were destroyed and many thousands of people were forced to leave their homes when lava began pouring out of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Ash covered the island for months until the eruption ended three months later.

Additional reporting by Reuters.