The Cabildo of Tenerife has made an initial assessment of the damage caused by the Forest fire that has hit the island since last August 15, currently stabilized after burning almost 15,000 hectares in a perimeter of 90 kilometers across 12 municipalities, and has estimated them at 80.4 million euros.
This was stated this Thursday by the island president, Rosa Dávila, who recalled that the Council of Ministers will probably declare the island of Tenerife as a ‘catastrophic zone’ this Friday.
“The estimated damages, only in the infrastructure of the Cabildo and the effects on the regeneration of the mountain, Teide National Park, are estimated at around 80.4 million euros,” he stated to remind that the primary sector is one of the most affected by the fire.
Dávila pointed out that the insular Corporation has worked “intensely” to have this first assessment of damages with the aim of making them available to the Government of Spain so that the declaration of a ‘catastrophic zone’ can be carried out.
Here, he made special emphasis that these 80.4 million are only in those aspects that have to do with roads, with hydraulic infrastructures, with the impact on agriculture “and everything that it means for the impact on the Teide National Park, the forest crown and the protected natural spaces of our island”.
The president pointed out that the fire, “the largest in the last 40 years in the Canary Islands”, undoubtedly has an impact on the lives of people who are dedicated to agriculture, livestock, who are affected by irrigation, by which awaited a response, “as President Sánchez anticipated”, from the Government of Spain.
The registrars estimate that 364 farms and 246 buildings were affected by the fire
The Tenerife fire has affected 364 registered properties and 246 buildings or constructions, most of them of an agricultural nature, according to data from the College of Registrars of Spain, obtained through its Emergency Registry Portal (PRE), which cross-references data own with the European satellite system Copernicus.
The fire has spread through five mortgage districts of the property registries of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Number 4, with 33 registered properties and 20 buildings affected; Tacoronte, 111 affected farms and 33 buildings; El Rosario, 12 affected farms and 6 buildings; Güímar, 43 affected farms and 11 buildings; and La Orotava, record with the largest number of affected properties, 165 and, in addition, the largest area, and 176 constructions or buildings affected.
The Professional Association indicates that the Emergency Registry Portal (https://geoportal.registradores.org/emergency) is an open and public tool through which affected citizens can check, based on the location of their farm or property, if it has been affected by the fire and directly request the registry information through a simple informative note to the competent registry.
The College has highlighted that in recent months improvements have been implemented in the PRE, which will provide users and administrations, among other issues, with a pre-emergency registry that includes the location of properties through the cadastral reference, the registry code unique CRU, or the street and the number of the municipality.
Seaplane base in the Canary Islands
On the other hand, Dávila explained that this fire allows us to reflect, “and it is the need for the Canary Islands to have a permanent seaplane base.”
“After three years of suffering terrible fires for the entire Canary Islands and after the fire that the island of Tenerife has suffered, I think it is no longer in question that the Canary Islands need a permanent seaplane base.”
For the president, the justification that was given at the time in 2020 by the Government of Spain that other areas would be left unattended, “no longer holds up after having experienced this terrible fire that has left Tenerife devastated with damage not only unprecedented economic but environmental.”
