Wildfires that have seen 12,000 flee their homes on the Spanish island of Tenerife were started deliberately, officials say – but the press are still hyping climate change as a supposedly contributing factor.
Part of the Canary Islands popular with tourists and, increasingly, illegal boat migrants, Tenerife has been gripped by blazes for a week, with Spain’s socialist leader Pedro Sanchez declaring the affected area a “disaster zone”.
Fernando Clavijo, the Canaries’ regional president, has confirmed the authorities believe the wildfire was started deliberately, and that at least three lines of investigation have been opened.
Nevertheless, much of the establishment media is still seeking to frame the fires as a climate issue, with the Associated Press (AP) insisting lack of rainfall and changing weather patterns have been influenced by climate change.
Hot weather is far from uncommon in the Canaries, which lie off the north-west coast of Africa, and they are popular with tourists for precisely that reason.