Spain holidays: Canary islands weather warning as storm hits Lanzarote and Gran Canaria

Manchester Airport: Eamonn Holmes on problems with travel

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The weather warning was issued by Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET. The storm was said to be moving east through the Canary Islands.

This means that the islands likely to experience the worst weather are Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Tenerife was expected to also see wind and rain but should have seen less intense wind than the other islands.

Southern Spain has recently had unexpectedly bad weather with heavy downpours across the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.

Tourists and residents have faced heavy rainfall, strong winds and some even had to deal with a calima.

A calima is a dust storm that forms when sand from the Sahara travels on the wind to Europe.

Some residents in the Balearic islands even awoke to snow on April 1 as Storm Cyril hit the region.

The Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque country, Navarra and La Rioja were also hit by heavy snow.

Spain is currently preparing for a busy tourist season as many visitors are expected to arrive over Easter.

Tourist resorts such as Benidorm expect to see their largest crowds since before the pandemic.

Many southern coastal regions of Spain are fairly reliant on tourism and are keen to restart the industry.

However, the tourist industry is also facing rising energy prices and an increase in the cost of essential goods.

Items such as sunflower oil have risen in price which could affect Benidorm’s popular fish and chip shops.

The industry has also been hit by a trucking strike which has affected some hotels’ renovation plans.

Essential materials such as concrete have been impacted by delays which could mean some hotels are unable to reopen for the season.

British tourists are also facing issues in the UK as easyJet has cancelled many flights due to staff shortages.

British Airways customers have also faced chaos with delayed flights and cancellations for many.

The chaos is thought to be due to many staff being off with Covid which has exacerbated existing shortages.

Many travel staff left the industry during the pandemic and some may have new jobs they prefer.

British tourists will need to be vaccinated to travel to Spain unless they have a recent Covid recovery certificate.

They will need to have a booster jab to travel to Spain if their second jab was more than 270 days ago.

Source: Read Full Article