Saharan Dust Cloud Hits Canary Islands, Prompts Alerts

A massive Saharan dust cloud, known as a calima and spanning about 1,300 kilometers, has swept over the Canary Islands, prompting health and weather authorities to issue warnings for residents and tourists across the archipelago. The event, one of the most significant in recent years, began affecting eastern islands like Lanzarote and Fuerteventura on Tuesday and is expected to peak overnight into Wednesday before gradually clearing by Wednesday evening.

Strong winds reaching up to 80 kilometers per hour from the African mainland lifted the dust into the atmosphere and carried it across the Atlantic, reducing visibility to as low as 3,000 meters in some areas and coating surfaces in a reddish-brown haze. Yellow weather alerts from Spain's state meteorological agency, AEMET, cover all seven islands, including popular tourist destinations such as Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The haze has already tinted skies orange and worsened air quality, with mid-altitude and mountainous regions facing the most intense impacts.

Health officials from the Canary Islands Health Service have emphasized precautions to mitigate risks, particularly for vulnerable groups including those with respiratory...