An out-of-control bushfire in Spain's Canary Islands threw flames 50 metres into the air on Monday, forcing emergency workers to evacuate more than 9,000 people, authorities say.

Key points: Huge flames and gusting winds blew embers into the air, starting more fires

Huge flames and gusting winds blew embers into the air, starting more fires The local government said around 6,000 hectares had been charred in just 48 hours

The local government said around 6,000 hectares had been charred in just 48 hours The blaze was approaching Tamadaba Natural Park, home to the island's oldest pine forests

The blaze, which began on Saturday near the town of Tejeda, is advancing on several fronts, propelled by a combination of high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity.

"The fire remains out of control," a spokeswoman for emergency services in the region said.

"It is a very serous fire."

Local fire officials said emergency workers faced huge flames and gusting winds that blew embers into the air, starting secondary fires.

Summer temperatures on the island on Monday were expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius.

Thousands of people have been evacuated due to a wildfire in Spain's canary islands. ( AP: Andres Gutierrez )

The blaze was racing across parched woodlands into Tamadaba Natural Park, home to some of the island's oldest pine forests and regarded as one of the jewels on Gran Canaria, a mountainous volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean archipelago off north-west Africa.

Canary Islands President Angel Víctor Torres said 1,100 firefighters were being deployed along with 14 water-dropping aircraft to battle the blaze that started on Saturday afternoon.

Flames from a forest fire burn close to houses in El Rincon, Tejeda on the Spanish Gran Canaria island. ( AP: Cabildo de Gran Canaria )

The local Government said about 6,000 hectares had been charred in just 48 hours, villages were evacuated and two dozen roads were closed.

Sixteen planes and helicopters as well as more than 700 firefighters were currently working to contain flames as high as 50 metres, authorities said.

Bushfires are common in southern Europe during the parched summer months but changing habits and lifestyles have made woodlands more vulnerable, experts say.

Gran Canaria emergency chief Frederico Grillo said recent blazes had become much worse — "nothing like those we used to have" when families worked in the countryside and forests were kept more orderly, private news agency Europa Press reported.

He said if the island's entire annual budget was used for forest fire prevention, it would still only be possible to clear brush from 30 per cent of its woodlands and there would still be large amounts of inaccessible areas due to the island's steep mountains and deep ravines.

Reuters/AP