‘Calima’ is not a rare phenomenon in the Canary Islands. The name is the Spanish word for ‘haze’ and is used when the Sahara sand is brought to the Canary Islands from Western Africa with strong easterly winds. It happens many times throughout the year; the sky becomes all white/yellow and causes a ‘heavy’ feeling. It usually lasts from a couple of hours to a day, sometimes for days or even longer.
Although people in the eastern and closest to Africa Canary Islands, like Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, get more of it than, for example, people staying in La Palma (situated way more westerly), the February 2020 calima was strong enough to reach the whole archipelago and even spread across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean. Reportedly, it was the strongest calima in the last 20-30 years and was called ‘a sandstorm’ due to extremely strong winds up to 75 knots. Dense sand was causing low visibility, difficulties in breathing, and high temperatures that reached far into the 30C. The airports have been occasionally closed, and a ton of flights have been canceled; the broken trees and branches were flying around, hitting cars, damaging electric cables, and causing fires. The government issued the highest security alert; the schools were closed.
Normally, calima is not that dense and doesn’t cause this much trouble, but is still rarely welcomed with open hands. It’s a phenomenon people understand and expect but also hardly wait to pass.
Note: The cover photo is from a calima day in Los Molinos, Fuerteventura. The photos in the text are from the above-mentioned strong calima in 2020 and were taken in Tenerife.
