San Juan de la Rambla is one of the worst affected by the fire that started on Thursday, July 21 in Los Campeches and that was given last Friday for controlled. In those nine days, the flames affected the entire forest mass owned by the municipality – around 700 hectares – and farms. Pending the definitive evaluation, the mayor, Jesús Ezequiel Domínguez, speaks of “very serious damage”. Hence, his government team has announced that he is going to request the declaration of a catastrophic zone.
“I have traveled through the affected areas and there are farms in operation through which the fire has passed, apart from all the mountains that we have in the municipality,” laments the mayor, who is pending to know the degree of affectation of each area. “The flames rose from the midlands area, where the farms are concentrated, towards the Corona Forestal and the Teide National Park.” Jesús Ezequiel Domínguez recalls that La Fortaleza, one of the affected areas in the protected area, belongs to San Juan de la Rambla. “We have very sensitive ecosystems, all protected, which are in the space affected by the fire,” explains the ramblero councilor, who recalls that there may also be archaeological remains in this area, such as those of the Risco de La Paloma.
The ramblero mayor asked for measures to put an end to the focus of fires that the royal town of Los Campeches has become. “If they locate the one who did it and evidence is obtained, let the full weight of the law fall. But other types of measures must also be taken, for example to raise awareness, given the fact that the same thing happens every year in Los Campeches. We should do something. In fact, a few days before the fire there had already been outbreaks in the surroundings of that same place », he pointed out.
Already in the adThe Ramblero City Council that it is going to ask the central government to declare the municipality a catastrophic zone assured that “the sadness and concern for the deep damage that this fire produces in especially fragile and vulnerable areas of our geography, and whose conservation is the responsibility of different administrations, whom we thank from here for their special sensitivity and deployment of means, which have made that in these two long days we have felt comforted and protected».
“The City Council of San Juan de la Rambla wants to thank the enormous effort made by all the teams in the firefighting operation”, the mayor wanted to make clear, who also congratulated the residents of the municipality for their supportive attitude and their willingness to lend a hand in such delicate moments.
Five municipalities affected
The five affected municipalities –San Juan de la Rambla, La Guancha, Icod de los Vinos, Los Realejos and La Orotava– are recovering normality after the emergency, which forced the cancellation of some events. This is the case, for example, of Los Realejos. Today the two galas for the election of the Queen and the Princess of the Sea for children and adults of the Fiestas del Carmen (5:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Plaza de San Agustín), which were postponed, will be held. With these coronations, the Fiestas del Carmen of 2022 would be concluded, since there are no more possibilities to extend their dates, which would interfere with events in other centers of the municipality and in the coordination of personnel and logistics at their service.
The fire was controlled on Friday after affecting 2,753 hectares, mainly from Canarian pine forest. A total of 223 of those hectares are in the Teide National Park, where in principle the condition has not been very important, according to those responsible for the operation. The Forest Brigades of the Cabildo de Tenerife (Brifor) are now focusing on surveillance and monitoring in case new hot spots are detected that threaten a resurgence of the flames.
