Canary Islands put on 'high alert' as Brit tourists warned to take caution
A 'high alert' warning has been issued across five popular hotspots in the Canary Islands, including Tenerife. Authorities across the tourist-riddled archipelago, located off the coast of northwestern Africa, have urged tourists and locals to take 'extreme caution' as high temperatures and dry, windy weather conditions have increased the risk of wildfires.
Temperatures are expected to reach a scorching 34C in parts of the region in the following days, while highs of 37C have been forecast for Gran Canaria. Meanwhile, strong winds above 30km per hour are also slated to shift across the islands.
On Monday, July 28, at 8am, level one prevention measures were reportedly activated in Tenerife, while wildfire alerts were also extended to El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and Gran Canaria. At the time of writing, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura seem to have dodged the alert.
According to local news site Canarian Weekly, the Canary Islands Government has implemented the INFOCA wildfire emergency plan, which prohibits those on the island from having BBQs or open flames in recreational areas or outdoor spaces. Tourists and residents are also prohibited from smoking in forest areas, trails, campsites, or public use areas in the mountains.
Even spark-producing tools such as chainsaws and strimmers are said to be banned during the level one restrictions, as well as letting off fireworks in or near forested zones. "Residents and visitors are also strongly advised to avoid entering forested areas during the alert period," the publication added.
The alert follows a wildfire outbreak in La Palma, which is believed to have been caused by human activity. Authorities have therefore urged the public to 'remain vigilant' and report any signs of smoke or fire immediately by calling 112.
Back in 2023, forest fires in Tenerife ripped through more than 15,000 hectares of land and resulted in around 12,000 people being forced to evacuate. Again, this blaze was blamed on arsonists, but shows just how quickly fires on the archipelago can spread - especially during the dry season.
The warning follows a slew of deadly wildfires that have spread across Europe during the sweltering summer months and resulted in tragedy. As previously reported, more than 1,500 people were recently evacuated in Turkey as blazes continues to ravage regions across the country.
One firefighter has tragically died while attempting to quash an inferno in the country's fourth most populated city, Bursa. The city's mayor Mustafa Bozbey added that more than 7,000 acres of land had been scorched by the fatal fire too.
Thousands of people were also forced to flee as wildfires hit two major Greek islands and villages near Athens this month - with two homes being burn down to the ground in the blaze. You can read more about the Turkey and Greece wildfires here.
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Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The retired civil servant and royal fan who swears blind she spotted the Waleses on a £40million superyacht off the coast of an enchanting Greek island
Normally at this time of year the people of the Ionian Islands talk of being overworked and little else. With nearly three million tourists visiting the region during July and August, they certainly have their work cut out. Not that they'd have it any other way, of course. For more than a week, though, another topic, or rather a question, has dominated conversation in bars and tavernas, particularly on beautiful Kefalonia. Has anyone seen Prince William and his family? Locals swear blind that the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children George, 12, Charlotte, ten, and seven-year-old Louis arrived on the island by private Lear jet on July 16. Also in tow, others insisted, were the future King's in-laws, Carole and Michael Middleton. All were then driven to a waiting superyacht. And from there out to azure waters and, well, who knows where? Speculation has been rife. 'Oh yes, sure, I got a picture of their boat,' a taxi driver assures me. He flourishes his smartphone and a photo of the superyacht, Norn, cruising north of the capital Argostoli. He adds: 'It's owned by a Microsoft tycoon, a billionaire tech guy. I know for sure this is the one they're on.' Maybe. But wasn't the smart money on an even bigger boat? On July 19 stories began to surface in the Greek media of how the Prince and Princess were enjoying the largesse of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a prominent member of the UAE royal family. His £340 million 146-metre (479ft) mega-yacht, Opera, is said to be one of the most opulent private vessels in the world. It boasts every amenity imaginable and in some cases, like Noah's Ark, two of everything – including helipads. While the story was ignored by the British media, it was picked up around the world. The Delhi-based Hindustan Times, for instance, ran its account under the headline 'Prince William, Kate Middleton sailing around Greece on yacht belonging to Emirati sheikh'. Some stories specified restaurants the royals were supposed to have visited. Social media hastened the story's spread, proclaiming certain 'facts' with inflexible certainty. On Kefalonia, meanwhile, where rumours move quicker than the Opera at full tilt, locals added their own embellishments. A taverna waiter in the pretty fishing village of Agia Efimia, where the Opera dropped anchor, tells me the royals were taken to the harbour by tender boat. 'There were about 12 black people carriers waiting for them. Then they were driven to the Melissani Cave which was closed for the day just for them.' But did he see William and Kate and the kids in the flesh? 'No, but my cousin Vangelis did, I'm sure of it.' Once located, however, Vangelis admits: 'I saw their executive cars speeding through the village, but I'm sorry – I cannot truly say that I eyeballed them.' Wiser souls in the village insisted the waiter and his cousin, and many more besides, were simply mistaken. What they really saw, they said, was not the Windsors but the Emiratis – something confirmed when the Daily Mail visited the roofless limestone Melissani Cave. There, cheerful gondoliers row tourists through a stalactite-lined cavern filled with brackish water of a startling ultramarine. One of the gondoliers says: 'It's fake news. The Arab royals and their children came and we closed the cave off for half an hour so they could have a private tour. 'But there was definitely no William and Kate.' It was a similar story at the restaurants on the island where the Prince and Princess and their children were supposed to have 'sampled delightful local delicacies'. Two expressed bemusement but promised a warm welcome should the royals drop by. A third said it was visited by an Opera crew member. 'Nobody from your royal family though,' said the manager. The Ionian Islands are steeped in rich mythology. Was the story of William and Kate's holiday proving just that – a myth? Besides, Lear jets and mega-yachts aren't a particularly good look for a prince who wears his green credentials proudly. William's Earthshot Prize gives £1 million every year to five projects tackling climate challenges. And wasn't it only a couple of months ago that he was hailing Sir David Attenborough on the eve of his new documentary, Ocean? In it, Sir David intones: 'I now understand that if we save the sea we save our world.' And it goes without saying that the great naturalist is decidedly sniffy about fuel-guzzling superyachts, which are said to cause even more damage to the environment than private jets. Maybe William and co had opted for a caravan holiday on the Isle of Wight instead. Sources were still insisting, though, that the royals had 'definitely' landed at Kefalonia's main airport. Then word reached the Daily Mail of a woman – a retired senior civil servant in the Greek defence ministry – who was said to have seen them first hand. The only known person, in fact, to have laid eyes on them. We traced her to her home overlooking enchanting Mavrouna Bay, close to the postcard-pretty village of Kioni on the tiny neighbouring island of Ithaca, which with emerald shores, wooded hills and secluded beaches is even more beautiful than Kefalonia. Aged 64, Penelope Likoudi was born and raised on the island, where she now owns a number of luxury apartments. A friend says: 'She is a respected lady, someone of high standing here.' She's a huge admirer of the royals too, has visited Buckingham Palace and Balmoral, 'devours' everything written about them and 'cried for days' when Princess Diana died. Over lemonade and cake at a cafe overlooking secluded Mavrouna Bay, she takes up the story of her royal encounter. Every day, she says, she swims in the bay, 'where I do exercises in the water for my back'. Last Tuesday was no different but this time there was a yacht moored about 100 metres or so from the shore and vaguely mindful of the stories of William and Kate, she decided to check it out. 'It was a possibility as a lot of celebrities come to this very spot. I think it was sometime after 11.30 in the morning,' she recalled. 'I swam out beyond the warning buoy and was about 30 metres (100ft) from the yacht when I saw them. Kate was standing on the top level with Charlotte and Louis. She was wearing a dark wraparound dress. 'There was an older lady next to them, possibly Kate's mother, but I wasn't able to see her well. 'I literally shivered with excitement. I was shocked, I couldn't believe it. 'Now I wish I'd called out hello to them. But I didn't, I got star-struck and couldn't get the words out. There was no sign of William or George though.' Did they see her? 'I think they must have done. I was the only one swimming that far out. You know, there was only a handful of locals on the beach.' 'They were looking at the wonderful bays, all green with trees coming all the way down to the sea. And I thought that maybe they would take out a boat so I waited for a bit,' she said. 'There was some sort of movement in the lower deck – the crew were untying something. 'But I couldn't stay long. I have only limited time because my mother is 94 and bedridden and I needed to get back to her. First though, when I got to dry land, I went to the top point of the cape and took some pictures of the boat with my phone.' It transpires that the Prince and Princess were in fact on the 50 metre (164ft) Almax, one of the world's first fuel-cell superyachts which is estimated to be worth £40million. Built by Italian firm San Lorenzo, it is described as a 'huge milestone in the future of sustainable boating'. That at least should deflect any criticism heading the Prince's way. Sure enough, Penelope's sighting tallies with maritime records which show that the Almax left Kioni the following day. It returned to Argostoli on Friday. There remains one mystery. Witnesses saw a different party exit the boat the next morning. So had the royals got off elsewhere? Intriguingly, on the morning Almax left Mavrouna there were said to be several other superyachts in the bay, including the Norn, the boat mentioned by the taxi driver when I first arrived in Kefalonia. 'The bay is like a catwalk for these yachts,' said a gift shop owner, adding that basketball legend Michael Jordan's yacht was 'also here on the same day'. Before Almax sped north a man arrived on Norn – which is owned by Microsoft mogul Charles Simonyi – by helicopter. Some locals speculated fancifully that it might be William. Unlikely, says Penelope. 'But either way, it's a shame I didn't get to see him.' Others in Kioni spoke of a visit William and Harry made to the village with their mother in 1995. 'Perhaps he was making a nostalgic return, a trip down memory lane,' says one woman. 'The English royals love it here. Charles and Diana stopped off on their honeymoon. And Charles and Camilla came ashore at Mavrouna in 2012. 'Now William has returned like Odysseus.' The Greek hero's delayed return to Ithaca is the plot of Homer's epic poem Odyssey. As Penelope heads for home, she speaks of the 'magic of Mavrouna and its special energy'. She adds: 'Kate has been unwell and I hope their holiday helped them. I hope they come back again. But I have no wish to see Harry and Meghan as I just can't stand them. 'For now I will treasure this special memory. I just wish I'd said hello. Maybe we could have had a chat.' William and Charlotte subsequently flew to Switzerland on Sunday to cheer on the Lionesses as they won the Euros final. It is understood that the family are now back in Britain.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Greece claims 'invasion' in Crete as it tries to halt asylum on Med route
In the centre of a sweltering, cavernous hall, rows of men sit in silence with nothing to occupy them but the wait. Signs from an old tourist fair propped up behind them urge visitors to "Explore the Beauty of Nature" with illustrations of coves and beaches in those held in the former Ayia exhibition centre did not come to the Greek island as holidaymakers. They are migrants who risked a journey across the sea from Libya to Europe's southern tip and were then detained and denied the right to apply for Crete, they are now being moved to closed facilities on the right for anyone to request protection, or asylum, is inscribed in EU and international law and in the constitution of Greece itself. But in a move implemented in haste earlier this month and criticised by human rights lawyers, the government has over-ridden that principle for the next three months at least. The new migration minister, Thanos Plevris, has told the BBC his country faces a "state of emergency". He talks of an "invasion" and the need for strong deterrence. "Anyone who comes will be detained and returned," he even people fleeing war in Sudan are locked up with no chance to explain their story. Inside the old exhibition centre, migrants were warned off speaking to us by the guards. "They're in detention," we were is baking in a heatwave and many of the men were in vests or stripped to the waist. There were a few water taps around the edges but no proper showers and only grubby blankets on the floor. Boxes of donated clothes and toys piled up by the door remained unpacked by guards wary of provoking two days we saw just a couple of hundred migrants at Ayia – from countries including Egypt, Bangladesh and Yemen, we heard, as well as Sudan. There were 20 or so teenage boys and two women sitting together at the when 900 people landed from Libya during one weekend earlier this month, the facility was stretched to the than 7,000 migrants reached Crete between January and late June, more than three times the number in all, the EU's Frontex border agency recorded almost 20,000 crossings in the Eastern Mediterranean in that period, with the Libya-Crete corridor now the main route. Traffickers began sending people to Crete in earnest after Italy signed a deeply controversial deal with Libya a couple of years ago that allows for migrants to be intercepted at sea and pushed back despite extensive evidence of human rights was mid-July when the government in Athens made its own move."The road to Greece is closing," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament, announcing that all migrants "entering illegally" would be arrested.A few days later, Mustafa – a 20-year old who ran from the war in Sudan – was detained. Read more:Police slash migrant 'taxi-boat' heading for UKGreek coastguards charged over 2023 migrant shipwreck From Ayia he was transferred to a camp outside Athens known as Amygdaleza, rows of grey prefabricated huts in a parched clearing surrounded by tall fences and security cameras."We are living here like a prison," Mustafa told me, when I managed to make contact by phone. "They don't allow us to move. We don't have clothes or shoes. Our situation is very bad."Lawyers who have visited Amygdaleza confirm his account, describing recent arrivals walking barefoot on baking hot soil and receiving minimal information. Ordinarily, Sudanese citizens would be granted asylum in Europe. In a series of voice and text messages, Mustafa recounted how he had spent months in dire conditions in Libya waiting for his chance to cross. He was then at sea for two days with 38 people crammed on to a plastic boat that had to be rescued. "We didn't manage to reach [land] because of the waves."Having survived that ordeal, he is now scared Greece will try to return him."I left my country because of the war, I can't go back," Mustafa said. "I come from Sudan because there is war in Sudan and I want protection. That's why I came here.""Now we do not know what our fate will be." The Greek migration minister describes himself as "hardline" on immigration."It's clear a country cannot accept such pressure from migration and not react," Thanos Plevris defended the government's new claimed that Crete had been receiving "one, two, three thousand people a day" from Libya when it stepped in, though he then scaled that back to "close to a thousand" in three days, when has no qualms about withholding the right to request asylum, suggesting that Sudanese refugees could simply stay in Libya."I want to be completely honest. We try to strike a balance between respect for their rights and respects for the people in Greece," the minister was firm. "Anyone who enters Greek territory over the next three months knows they are violating Greek law."The European Commission says it's "looking into" the move.A spokesperson told the BBC the situation was "an exception" because the surge in small boat arrivals had "possible consequences in terms of European security".Poland also halted asylum applications on its eastern border back in March, though with various exceptions. Greece itself did so previously in 2020 during an increase in arrivals from obligations of the European Convention on Human Rights can be overridden "in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation".Whether the current situation constitutes such a grave threat to either Poland or Greece is much disputed. "This article is for war or a massive uprising," argues Dimitris Fourakis, a lawyer who works extensively with migrants in Crete and sees a troubling trend across warns that detention centres will quickly fill up, too, as "sending migrants back" is easy to say but extremely difficult to do."I think it's a decision that is completely illegal. It's a very big step, very wrong step. And I think the best they can is to stop it immediately," the lawyer says. The increase in small boat arrivals came just as the beaches and bars of Crete were filling up for the summer and the migration minister says protecting the tourist industry is his priority."I've never seen any migrants," admits Andreas Lougiakis, a restaurant owner in the pretty village of Paleochora on the southern coast who says the boats mostly reach the tiny island of talk of their arrival is bad for business though."We feel sad for these people of course, but… people think this place is full of immigrants; no beaches available, no place," Andreas says. "We are just worried for our business and for our families."The suspension of asylum is part of a much broader crackdown on irregular migrants here. The minister plans to jail all those who fail to leave Greece when their asylum request is rejected and use electronic tags for has also promised a "drastic review" of that "millions" in North Africa are poised to cross to Europe, citing conversations in Libya, Plevris suggests other countries should be grateful for his resolve."You should know that if the countries on the border of the EU do not take tough measures, then all this flow of migrants will be directed towards your societies," he warns. "Greece used to say it before but back then, no-one listened."Each evening, as the sky over Crete turns orange, the coast guard escorts a group of migrants to port and on to the night passenger ferry for the number of arrivals climbed earlier this month, they struggled to find space on minister insists the suspension of asylum rights is a temporary step, most likely only for winds rather than government resolve seems to have slowed the flow of boats for the move has raised concerns about how readily governments can discard a fundamental right in the name of security. It also leaves huge questions for those like Mustafa from Sudan, who fled war, and have now been detained in Europe.
The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
Anti-war demonstrators protest the arrival of an Israeli cruise ship on the Greek island of Crete
Demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza protested the arrival of an Israeli cruise ship on another Greek island Tuesday – the third such protest on Greek islands in the last week. Protesters on the southern Greek island of Crete unfurled a huge Palestinian flag at the port of Agios Nikolaos and shouted 'Free, free Palestine' as the tourists on board the Crown Iris disembarked and left on buses for their tours of the island, according to images shown on local media outlets. Riot police kept the crowd away from the pier where the cruise ship was docked, while scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police. Local media reported that officers used pepper spray at one point to keep the crowd back. Four people were detained, local media said. Video showed police leading one man away, his arms cuffed behind his back, as he shouted 'Free, free Palestine.' Similar scenes unfolded the previous day when the Crown Iris docked in a port on the eastern Greek island of Rhodes, where clashes broke out between riot police and demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza. There also, the cruise ship's passengers disembarked for tours of the island, and no violence was reported. Anti-war protesters on Greece's Cycladic island of Syros were the first to hold a demonstration against the docking of the Crown Iris, on July 22. The crowd of about 150 people chanted slogans and carried banners that read 'Stop the Genocide' and 'No a/c in hell' — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip. On that occasion, the ship's roughly 1,700 passengers didn't disembark and the ship left the island earlier than planned, with the company operating the trip, Israel's Mano Cruise, saying it had 'decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination.' Last week's incident had triggered a phone call by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Greek counterpart George Gerapetritis. Greece is a popular tourist destination for Israelis on package tours and traveling independently, particularly in the summer months, and there are several flights per day between Tel Aviv and Athens, as well as from Israeli airports directly to Greek islands.
