The wind has dropped in the Canary Islands, allowing firefighters to make progress against Spain’s biggest wildfire so far this year, raising hopes it might be contained within two days and evacuated residents may soon be able to return.

Canary Islands president Angel Victor Torres said 16 water-dropping aircraft took off at first light amid “a lot more favourable” weather conditions than the previous day.

More than 12,000 hectares (46,000 square miles) have been charred on the western slopes of Gran Canaria. No injuries have been reported.

Tejeda on Gran Canaria (Cabildo de Gran Canaria/AP)

The defence minister in Spain’s caretaker government, Margarita Robles, said on a visit to the island that the blaze may be contained within 48 hours if weather conditions do not worsen.

She described the huge fire as “terrifying”. Almost 400 of about 1,000 people working to control the flames are soldiers.

Mr Torres said he hoped some of around 10,000 mostly local people evacuated from the area could begin returning on Tuesday, while two dozen roads closed due to the fire were expected to reopen.

“I think we may be moving into the final phase of this wildfire,” Gran Canaria emergency chief Federico Grillo told local broadcaster Television Canaria.

Gran Canaria is the third-largest island in the Canary Islands archipelago. About 30 miles in diameter, it has a population of 850,000 and is a popular holiday destination for Europeans and others. Most holiday resorts are on the coast, while the blaze has raced through mostly rural inland areas.

Emergency services struggled on Monday to contain the fire amid gusting winds and summer temperatures around 36C. The blaze started on Saturday afternoon, and the cause is under investigation.

Wildfires
Fire on the western slopes of the island (Andres Gutierrez/AP)

The Spanish caretaker government’s farming minister, Luis Planas, said the wildfire was “like a tsunami” on Monday, when more than a million metric tons of water were used against it.

About 100 of the more-than 600 people evacuated from Galdar, in the north west of Gran Canaria, were staying at the hillside town’s Fernando Guanarteme boarding school. Some had been there since Saturday.

Local rancher Benito Mendoza Rivero said the blaze was devastating. “There won’t even be a lizard left,” he told Gran Canaria newspaper La Provincia.

He said he was especially concerned about his dog, which he had left tied up at home, and authorities would not let him go back to check on it.

Fernando Moreno was anxious about his farm animals, which he released to fend for themselves before he was taken to the school.

He was angry at what he perceived as authorities’ lack of preparedness for a major wildfire, and said water-dumping aircraft were wasting their time. “With this heat, the water falls and evaporates right away,” he told La Provincia.