Spain's Alicante airport was set to reopen Thursday afternoon after a closure of nearly 24 hours because of a fire, frustrating thousands of tourists heading for the Mediterranean coast.

"The fire is under control but it has not been extinguished. Firefighters are continuing to work," a spokeswoman for Spanish airport operator Aena told AFP.

She said the airport would reopen at 2 pm (1300 GMT) "at the earliest" following the blaze on the roof of the building, covering some 1,200 square meters (13,000 square feet).

The Alicante airport was to reopen at 1300 GMT Thursday "at the earliest", a spokeswoman said
The Alicante airport was to reopen at 1300 GMT Thursday "at the earliest", a spokeswoman said AFP / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS

The spokeswoman could not say how many flights were affected all together, but on Wednesday 10 arriving flights were cancelled as well as 12 which were supposed to depart from the airport.

Another four flights which were due to land at Alicante were diverted to other Spanish airports.

Authorities are still not sure what caused the fire, which prompted the evacuation of passengers and personnel.

Spain's fifth largest passenger airport serves the eastern region of Valencia, which is home to several popular resorts such as Benidorm. It handled just under 14 million passengers last year.