The forest fire that started in the Canary Island's fifth largest island off the coast of Morocco last Friday, fanned by high winds and soaring temperatures, is still not completely under control, even though the wind has changed direction and is blowing against the fire.

So far, at least 4,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, hotels and apartments, many of them foreign tourists. Some have been unable to get their flights home due to road closures.
Five hundred firefighters are battling the blaze on two fronts, down from three fronts on Saturday, with hydroplanes and helicopters. Two hydroplanes and helicopters and more fighfighters were called in from Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote. Yesterday more reinforcements arrived from the mainland in the afternoon, having just come from fighting fires there.
La Palma's steep and rugged terrain has made it extremely difficult for firefighters to reach the heart of the fires and by midday yesterday more than 2,000 hectares of the island's woodland had been destroyed.
Several dozen homes in Fuencaliente on the southern part of La Palma have been gutted, and there are now fears that the flames could spread to the observatory that houses the world's largest telescope. The Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory was only visited by the  Spanish Royal family last month to inaugurate a new telescope. The observatory has been in operation for more than 20 years.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero has arrived in La Palma to see the devastation for himself, and has said that "an appropriate degree of aid" would be forthcoming at the next cabinet meeting on August 13.