operation prometheus drones tenerife wildfire prevention

Operation Prometheus returns with drones to protect Tenerife

Military deployment against summer wildfires

The Ingenieros barracks in La Cuesta hosted the launch of the third Operation Prometheus, a deployment of military patrols across Tenerife’s forests to prevent wildfires and deter potential arsonists. This year, military drones have been added to an operation that cements the alliance between the Cabildo of Tenerife and the Spanish Army.

Both the Chief of Staff of the Canary Islands Command, Alfonso Pardo de Santayana, and the island’s president, Rosa Dávila, confirmed this during the event. The Army will contribute more than 2,000 personnel to patrol the island’s forests from Wednesday 1 July until 30 September. In total, 2,500 personnel will be involved in the deployment if members of the Cabildo’s Brifor rapid response team, firefighters, and security forces are included.

Heatwave threat may extend campaign into October

Adverse weather conditions, with several heatwaves forecast for the summer, could extend the campaign into October. Dávila announced this during the event and said it would be the subject of imminent negotiations with the Ministry of Defence. She thanked the Army for its commitment to Tenerife.

The operation will run for 92 days with ten daily patrols of two soldiers each – five during the day and five at night. Patrols will be equipped with the latest technology and coordinated through a logistics centre in direct contact with the island’s Cecopin emergency coordination centre.

Patrols extend southwards in high-risk areas

This year, patrols have been extended slightly further south, although no further details were given for security reasons. They will operate on the ground at specific points where small outbreaks have occurred in previous years. General Pardo de Santayana summed it up: “Our mission is to arrive when it is still a small outbreak; that is, before the fire starts.”

Born from the ashes of the 2023 wildfire

Operation Prometheus was launched in 2024 as an institutional response to the major forest fire that affected Tenerife in August 2023. That fire, which started in the uplands of Arafo on the night of 15 August, devastated 12,273 hectares – mostly pine forest – and forced the evacuation of around 12,000 people. Although there were no fatalities and no widespread damage to homes, the fire caused severe harm to the ecosystems of the Corona Forestal nature reserve.

A growing operation year on year

The first edition of Prometheus, in the summer of 2024, mobilised nearly 2,000 military personnel and deployed ten daily ground patrols, amounting to around 920 patrols over three months. In 2025, the Army repeated the operation with approximately 2,300 personnel, also distributed across 920 patrols. Now in 2026, the operation has grown to 2,500 personnel and incorporates drones for the first time. Further expansion is planned.

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