Irish people planning a sunny escape to Spain, Turkey, or Greece are being warned to think twice – as a UK expert has flagged up serious concerns.
Speaking to BBC’s Morning Live, travel journalist Ash Bhardwaj has raised the alarm about the heightened risk of wildfires. He warned holidaymakers: “We’re entering wildfire season, which peaks in July and August, and some of these places are seeing temperatures that peak at over 50 degrees Celsius.
“As a place gets drier and hotter, you’re more likely to get wildfires. Over the last five years, 13 per cent of travel insurance claims have been evacuations or related to natural disasters, so this is something that can affect your travel.”
In the Canary Islands, both tourists and locals are keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of forest fires, with the authorities putting a pre-alert state into action. The combination of scorching heat, bone-dry conditions, and the recent battering from a calima – those dry, dusty winds from the Sahara – means the risk of a blaze breaking out is all too real, reports Galway Beo.
An official statement on the local government’s website said: “Given the current climatic, meteorological, and environmental circumstances, having passed the usual period of precipitation in the Canary Islands and, as established in section 2.10 of the INFOCA, it is estimated that the conditions are in place to declare a Pre-Alert Situation due to this being a period of medium to high risk of forest fires.”
Spain’s key tourism sector is already bracing for impact over soaring anti-tourist sentiment with demonstrations in full swing before the peak holiday season kicks in. Last month saw protesters thronging the streets across Tenerife, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, El Hierro, Lanzarote, and La Palma, banding together under the slogan ‘Canarias tiene un limite’ (The Canaries has a limit).
Activists have been vocal, demanding a cap on tourist numbers, a stop to new hotel projects and calling for tougher tourist taxes among several measures.
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