E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez

Gran Canaria Fires – Now Officially under Control! Finally!

Tags: Gran Canaria, Canarias, Canary Islands, Fires, Spain, Tragedy, Drama, Paradise, Incendio, Arde Canarias, Planeta Canarias, La Gomera, Tenerife

I know that over the last few days I have been sharing a number of different weblog posts that do not have much to do with the main topics that I get to discuss over here, but I hope you can understand what we are all going through over here. Catastrophes of this proportion should not, must not, be forgotten. So, today, nearly six days after the fires started in Gran Canaria, I am very happy to share with you all, just in case you may have missed it, that the fires in Gran Canaria are now officially “under control”, according to several news items.

The one in Tenerife is still being stabilised and the one in La Gomera is now also extinguished. It has not been a pretty sight all along for the last few days, having over 35,000 hectares of woodland (Pine trees, mainly) being wiped out between Gran Canaria and Tenerife (Around 20,000 in Gran Canaria alone, one third of the total woodland area from the island!). Yes, I know, the proportions of the disaster are just tragic, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, the horizon is starting to look closer and closer than ever before. And I am very happy to see that. About time, too!

Yes, we all know that things would never be the same. They just won’t, but life goes on and the sooner we recover, the better. I am sure that in the next few days a whole bunch of conversations, discussions, analysis of the situation and whatever else would be put together (I may be able to share some thoughts on those at a later time), but in this weblog post I just wanted to share with you as well some of the magnitude of the disaster at the same time that I would place a whole bunch of links in here around what the international press and media are saying about the last few days.

You would have to remember that the Canary Islands are a very popular holiday destination with over 12 million visitors per year approx. so it is of no surprise the extensive coverage that the fires have been given all over the place, considering that very soon plenty of those tourists may be heading back here again to spend their vacation, specially during the winter time.

It surely is very nice to know that plenty of people out there are thinking about these tragic events and are wishing us all getting back on track soon, including nature doing what it knows best, so for all of that I would want to give a special thanks! for being there and for the support. It is greatly appreciated, to say the least!

So let’s have a look at the international press coverage of the events:

Irish Times, Innovations Report (Germany), Vakantie.PaginaBlog (Netherlands), Trouw (Netherlands), Fok (Netherlands), Handelsblatt (Germany), derStandard (Austria), Die Zeit (Germany), Aftonbladet (Sweden), Aftonbladet (Sweden), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Alice Notizie (Italy), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Le Monde (France), Le Figaro (France), France24 (France), The Times Online (UK), Faz (Germany), IlMessaggero (Italy), Diario de Noticias (Protugal), Bild (Germany).

As you can see from the above links, quite a bit, actually. In the mean time, the blogosphere keeps coming up with more and more updates, some of them with some incredible video footage as well!In this particular link from Canarias7 you would be able to check out some of the different pictures that have been taken over the course of the days that relate to some of the kind of impact this tragic set of events will have on the islands. Just below I have shared a couple of them, courtesy from Canarias7, while I am awaiting for more to come through the Flickr group.

So, the good thing is that fires in Gran Canaria are now officially under control, there would be lots and lots of work that would need to be done, but, at least, we are finally starting to see the light. And that is good news. Now off to the next challenge: bring the entire island to what it once was. A paradise!

(Still is…)

Gran Canaria Fires – Almost There! Almost under Control…

Tags: Gran Canaria, Canarias, Canary Islands, Fires, Spain, Tragedy, Drama, Paradise, Incendio, Arde Canarias, Ayagaures, Planeta Canarias

And while the reactions and different news items keep showing up all over the place with folks sharing their thoughts on this tragic set of events, it looks like things are starting to become normalised, to a certain degree, that is, because we cannot say just yet that everything is under control. Not yet. The struggle continues. The fight is there, active, more than ever, to try to put an end to it all. And we are getting there, for sure. Slowly, but steadily. Hopefully, one more day. Just one more day. Tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Best of luck to us all.

Weather conditions have improved quite a bit with temperatures around the 30 degrees Celcius and with hardly any wind, at least, from this side of the island. Definitely, not as windy as in the last couple of days. So there is plenty of hope that everything would be back to normal soon, if we could say that because I doubt things would ever be the same again. Not after watching this catastrophe for over 5 days now.

The first evaluations, editorials, extensive opinions and reviews, reservations, etc. etc. are starting to flourish now, and perhaps I will talk about them some more later on, but I just thought I would leave you for the day with something that I have found incredibly amazing and a life-changing experience, for sure.

Check out the impressive Flickr set of pictures that tonyatlantico has been putting together, where he has been covering what Ayagaures looks like after the fire. A place which is just about 20 minutes by car from where I live. Then also take a look at a couple of pictures I took from the same place some time ago in all its splendour.

All I can say at this moment is that it still hurts… and quite a lot!

(Oh, and don’t forget you can keep up with what the Spanish Gofiosfera is thinking about over at Planeta Canarias)