The Canary Islands’ Directorate-General for Emergencies activated a formal “Prealerta por Temperaturas Máximas” at 11:00 on 23 July under the archipelago’s PEFMA emergency plan. The notice covers the south of Fuerteventura, the east, south and highlands of Gran Canaria, and parts of Tenerife’s metropolitan and southern zones, where models predict sustained highs of 40–42 °C through the weekend. Although a pre-alert is one step below a full yellow or orange alert, it authorises municipalities to prepare cooling shelters, adjust outdoor-work schedules and, crucially for travellers, allows tourist attractions to curtail operating hours without financial penalty. Siam Park in Tenerife and several camel-safari operators in Fuerteventura have already announced earlier closing times, while inter-island ferry company Fred. Olsen warns that decks may be closed during peak heat to protect passengers from heat stroke. Air traffic is not expected to be disrupted, but ground-handling unions at Gran Canaria airport (LPA) say they will enforce the newly revised Royal Decree-Law 4/2023, which permits workers to stop outdoor tasks when the State Meteorological Agency issues a red or orange heat warning. The island’s hotel-association Ashotel has circulated guidance advising employers to provide extra water breaks for staff and recommended that guests book airport transfers with air-conditioned vehicles. Employers with staff on assignment should remind them that Spain’s labour inspectorate now monitors employer compliance with heat-stress rules. Remote workers staying under Spain’s new digital-nomad visa scheme remain subject to the same occupational-risk legislation if they work from co-working spaces. From a mobility perspective, the Canary Islands episode illustrates how regional alert systems can affect business continuity even without transport cancellations. Duty-of-care protocols should incorporate local emergency-plan thresholds, not just national AEMET warnings.
