Government president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero injured himself playing basketball with friends yesterday evening and has been forced to cancel today's planned visit to Gran Canaria to see for himself the damage caused by a fire on the 21st July, which destroyed 150 hectares of pine forest around the towns of Arternera, Tejada and Valleseco.

Mr Zapatero was due to arrive at Gando military base this morning at 11am to visit the affected area accompanied by the regional president of the Canary Islands, Adán Martín, and Justice minister, Juan Fernando López Aguilar.

Earlier yesterday, which was not only the first day of Mr Zapatero's holiday, but also his 45th birthday, the president and his family had taken a boat trip to the island of La Graciosa, the smallest island in the archipelago. It seems that, after receiving treatment for a pulled muscle in his left leg, Mr Zapatero was allowed to return to the "La Mareta" villa near Teguise on Lanzarote, where the family are staying.