The Cabildo of Tenerife estimates the damage from the forest fire, which started on the night of August 15 and destroyed almost 15,000 hectares of forest on the Canary Island, at 80.4 million euros, making it the worst fire of the year in Spain. There was damage to infrastructure, roads, agriculture, water and the environment, including the Teide National Park. The president of the island, Rosa Dávila, used these numbers to remind the central government of its obligation to declare the affected area a “severely affected zone” (the so-called disaster zone). “The impact on the lives of Tenerife residents is undeniable and I hope the central government is up to the task,” he said in statements to the media this Thursday.
Dávila also saved an old claim on the islands: to have a permanent seaplane base. “It was the worst fire in the last 40 years and the need for a permanent seaplane base in the Canary Islands is very clear and I will communicate this to the Secretary of Defense,” he said. “We believe we shouldn’t even give the fire an hour’s head start, and we understand that nine hours’ drive is excessive.”
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Robles, who visited the fire-hit area the same day, avoided responding to that request but left the door open to “improving” the island’s firefighting services. The minister thanked the Military Emergency Unit (UME) for their work.
Acting Minister of Defense Margarita Robles welcomes the members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) to Tenerife this Thursday. Miguel Barreto (EFE)
Regarding the damage, the vice-president of the Cabildo, José Miguel Ruano, pointed out that the figures are estimates as the fire is not yet under control and pointed out that the figures were determined together with the affected communities be. The Sustainability and Emergencies Department estimated damage at 64 million euros. In terms of mobility, especially on the road, the number is 2.2 million. For his part, the island manager of the primary sector, Valentín González, has pointed out that it is one of the sectors most affected by the fire, putting the damage at 11.3 million. The impact on the agricultural area amounts to 635 hectares of the total 14,700 affected hectares. The greatest damage occurs to chestnut trees, fruit trees and, above all, to the hydraulic infrastructure.
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In livestock farming, the losses amounted to 1.5 million people due to the impact on farms, stables, equipment rooms and clearance, which also meant that no economic activity could be carried out during this period, as well as the transport and housing of animals. The sector that has fared the worst is beekeeping, where 3,500 hives have disappeared. The Cabido concluded a special meeting with the sector next week. The hydraulic infrastructure represents a bill of more than 900,000 euros: the water extraction by helicopter affected ponds in Aguamansa or San Antonio, among others.