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By Borja Suarez
GRAN CANARIA, Spain, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Spain's airport
operator AENA suspended all flights in and out of Gran
Canaria and all flights leaving Tenerife on Saturday evening
after a storm carrying clouds of red sand from the Sahara hit
the Canaries and severely reduced visibility.
At least 19 flights to Gran Canaria were diverted, a
spokeswoman for AENA said. She did not specify which airlines
had been affected.
Budget carrier Vueling, a subsidiary of IAG, said
some of its services had been hit and advised passengers to
check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
Spain's national weather service warned that winds of up to
120 kph (75 mph) are set to buffet the Canaries until Monday.
Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are likely to be the
worst hit, the weather service said.
The regional government declared a state of alert and
advised people to keep doors and windows closed across the
archipelago, while authorities in Lanzarote's capital Arrecife,
cancelled all outdoor activities, including some carnival
celebrations.
Located around 60 miles off the coast of Morocco, the
Canaries are a popular tourist destination for northern
Europeans in search of winter sun.
(Reporting by Nathan Allen in Madrid and Borja Suarez in Gran
Canaria; editing by James Drummond)
