The stabilization of the great forest fire that has affected the north of Tenerife since last Thursday, July 21, has allowed the return to their homes of some 500 evicted people from the areas of Las Llanadas, in Los Realejos, and Benijos, in La Orotava. The flames have stopped destroying new territory and the lines of control established by the firefighting operation have managed to contain it within limits far from the populated areas. Around ten in the morning it was announced that the return of the evicted neighbors would be studiedbut it was not until 3:30 p.m. when the Government of the Canary Islands confirmed that everyone could return home, except for the 60 to 70 inhabitants of the thirty houses closest to the front of the Tigaiga hillside, on the Camino del Madroño and Los Carozos.
The 38 evacuees in El Andén, Fuente del Bardo and Lomo Hurtado, in San Juan de la Rambla, have already returned home between yesterday and the weekend and, on Monday afternoon, some 415 people did so in Los Realejos and around 85 in the municipality of La Orotava.
“The City Council has accommodated 253 people in 123 rooms in a dozen hotels”
After the insular president, Pedro Martín, confirmed in the morning that the return of those evicted in Las Llanadas and Benijos would be valued, the news generated excitement and concern among those affected, that they did not stop asking when the return would be possible until it became official. But it was not a disbandment, but a progressive and staggered return.
The realejero mayor and his government team were striving to spread the information so that it reached those affected as soon as possible. After specifying all the details, the city council gave the list of areas to which it was possible to return: Los Tres Pinos, Hoya Farrais, Cruz del Castaño, Hoya de Pablo, Lomo La Viuda and Arenitas.
Epi, in charge of Promociones Lesan Tenerife, and Rosa were among the first to organize themselves to return. A friend had allowed them to leave their belongings in a room and they immediately ran to load their pickup with the suitcases, bottles and bags that they had to take out of the house on Saturday. That day they had some friends at home to do a job, but the fire blew up the plans. Epi says that they began to clear the surroundings of her house and even board up doors and windows to try to protect her from the possible arrival of the flames. Then they loaded everything they could into the available suitcases. To the fear of the fire was added the fear that some friend of the alien would take advantage of the eviction to access the empty houses. Rosa and her daughter went to a hotel, but Epi did not want to stray too far from her house and stayed at a friend’s house to observe the evolution of the fire: «I couldn’t leave here with that fire, I was in great anguish . My heart was going to 300. Saturday was hell and a thousand things went through my head. Rosa already smiles: “Now it will take time to put everything back in order, but the important thing is that we return.”
“It is an immense joy that the residents of El Orégano sleep at home again”
Fabián works in the forestry brigades and the evacuation of his house and his farm caught him fighting the fire,yes, that bad drink «my parents had to go through it alone and, thanks to the people offering themselves and helping, everything went well». Yesterday he was able to bring his horses back with the help of Jose, a friend of Benijos who has a trailer and who, upon learning of the evacuation, did not hesitate to approach: «When a friend calls, that’s the first thing.”
The living image of joy
On Las Arenitas street, the living image of the joy for the return was the large family of Los Colorados. Several generations shared, under the shade of a tree, the satisfaction of returning home after a scare that neither children nor adults will ever forget. The reunion hugs served to let the emotions flow after more than 48 hours of worry and uncertainty. It is reassuring to return, “but as long as there is smoke, there is fire, so it is still worrying,” said one of these parents from the upper area of Las Llanadas.
Jaime, Antonio, Begoña, Juan, María, Lala, Jose, Iván, Jeny, Paula, Cristina and Mauro can now prepare coffee at home and, although they stayed in family homes, they only have words of gratitude for the City Council: «They behaved very well, and that the mayor has only been here for a short time». They agree that what was experienced on Saturday, with the fire coming down the slope of Tigaiga, was something “terrible” that not even the oldest have seen: “My mother-in-law, who is 91 years old, told me that she had never seen the fire there. Talking with Los Colorados leads to a long list of demands and complaints from the rural world: the situation of the Los Realejos firewall –«Before it was much wider and that is why the fire did not pass through»–; the closure of roads for horses and mules – «You can no longer enter even through the firewall»–; the increase in the price of pet food – «The bag of oats used to cost 7.50 euros and is now worth 20 euros»–; the lack of cleanliness of the mountains – «They no longer let you take out even the dry firewood»–; the plague of the potato moth –«El bicho»–, or the abuse of intermediaries towards farmers –«We all plant beautiful potatoes, but we no longer do it for business, but for ourselves, because they pay so little and then the They sell so expensive that you look silly. They sell expensive even the ones we throw at the goats here»–.
The 38 displaced people in San Juan de la Rambla are also already in their homes
The other side of the coin are the residents of Camino del Madroño and Los Carozos, the areas most exposed to the front. Yesterday Tigaiga only conserved some isolated columns of smoke, especially in the part of the hillside where the laurel forest has acted as a natural firebreak. Milagros and Andrés, who live at the entrance to the Camino del Madroño, were among the first to be evicted and will be among the last to return. «The police asked us to leave in a matter of seconds, to leave without cars and without taking out the animals. In the end my daughter came and we were able to bring the trailer to put the four goats and the mule. We put the three puppies in the jeep and left for her house », she recalls excitedly. She had hoped that she would be able to return, but the announcement that her house marked the very limit of the evacuation was a disappointment. From their house up, they don’t allow anyone to come back. His hope is postponed for today.
The realejero mayor, Adolfo González (PP), reported that his city council came to house “253 people in 123 rooms of a dozen hotels in Los Realejos and Puerto de la Cruz”, of which the vast majority were able to return to their homes yesterday afternoon. The president expressed his joy at the completion of this eviction in most of the affected areas and valued “the orderly return of the neighbors” and “the great collaboration that everyone is providing.”
satisfaction and relief
The realejero Consistory has also facilitated the return by taxi of people who lack vehicles and, in the cases of people with reduced mobility, medical transport vehicles have been provided. For the return of the animals that have been welcomed, through the Consistory, in shelters or private farms, the local government has asked the owners to go to the Las Llanadas pavilion to arrange the return transport.
The mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares (CC), also acknowledged that “it is an immense joy that the residents of El Orégano Street are sleeping at home again”, and stressed that the return has been carried out “with exquisite order”. For the villero president, “it has been extraordinary news because it has given peace of mind to people who were very restless because they wanted to return to their homes to attend to their farms and their animals.” In his opinion, this joy is double because, apart from the relief of the personal situation of these families, “their return is a clear symptom that the fire situation has improved a lot in the last few hours.”
