Flights were grounded on the Canary Islands after a huge Saharan sandstorm forced airports to close.
Spain’s authorities said planes had been rerouted to other destinations, and stopped flights from taking off from the islands’ airports.
Schools were closed on Monday as the regional government said winds could reach 120 kmph.
The storm phenomenon, locally known as “calima,” is capable of lifting up clouds of sand and dust from the Sahara Desert and transporting them across the 95 kilometers (59 miles) separating the islands from the African coast.
At least 822 flights have been affected.
“Visibility is very poor. Planes that were due to land on the islands have been diverted to mainland Spain,” a spokeswoman for airport operator Aena said on Sunday, adding that it was too early to say how many flights would be affected.
In a tweet on Sunday night, Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos thanked these countries for their “solidarity”. Air transport professionals “do not remember ever having seen such bad weather for air transport in the Canary Islands”, he said.
Air traffic had returned to normal on the archipelago a few hours earlier on Sunday, in the wake of similar disruptions that had led to the cancellation or diversion of around 280 flights, according to Aena’s spokeswoman.
The operator had suspended on Saturday all flights to and from Gran Canaria and all those leaving the two airports of Tenerife (north and south) because of strong winds loaded with sand dust from the Sahara that drastically reduced the visibility of pilots on these islands off the coast of Morocco.
Aena said on Monday morning all airports were able to operate with reduced capacity, but warned travelers to check with their airline as some flights are still affected.
