Alert declared as islands invaded by locusts

26 November 2004

FUERTEVENTURA- The authorities on Spain’s Canary Islands have declared a state of alert as swarms of locusts arrive from western Africa.

A spokesman for the Islands’ agricultural ministry said after the government put the islands on alert late Thursday that some 5,000 locusts had been found Friday morning alone, with the island of Fuerteventura especially badly hit.

The spokesman said the hot weather and easterly winds in the region had exacerbated the problem, adding such an invasion had not been seen in the islands since the 1950s.

The insects are also threatening crops in several countries in the Sahara and the Maghreb region of north Africa, as well as parts of Israel.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news