Canary Islands: A wildfire that ignited within a mountainous national park on the Spanish island of Tenerife on Wednesday has rapidly expanded, officials said.
Hundreds of firefighters are trying to bring the major blaze under control on the largest of Spain's Canary Islands.
The fire grew to cover an area of 1,800 hectares (4,450 acres) within a span of 24 hours.
The fire has now extended across 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) of dry woodland, engulfing both sides of Mount Teide, Spain's tallest peak. Access to this region has now been affected.
Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader, conveyed during an evening press briefing in the island's capital, Santa Cruz, that the wildfire is spiraling "out of control," and the situation is dangerous.
"Our goal is for it to stop gaining ground," he stated, adding that their immediate objective is to employ defensive measures for Wednesday night.
"I am confident that the more than 200 ground forces that will be active tonight will be able to contain the two most worrying fronts," he said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
