Specialist sniffer dogs have been flown in from Madrid to join the search for Jay Slater, as authorities continue to scour for details that may shed light on his disappearance.
Now in its second week, only a small search team of police officers and rescue workers could be seen in the mountainous area near the Tenerife village of Masca, a destination popular with experienced hikers.
The 19-year-old disappeared after attending the New Rave Generation music festival last Sunday evening in Papagayo Beach Club on the south of the island.
After making new acquaintances during the early hours of the morning, he travelled with two British men to a remote AirBnb, an 11-hour hike from his accommodation.
At around 8.15am last Monday, he contacted his friend Lucy Law and told her that he was lost, had injured his leg, was dehydrated and that his phone only had one per cent battery.
At 8.50am, his phone was last located near the Mirador La Cruz de Hilda cafe, a steep climb in the wrong direction from where an eyewitness had told him to head.
Nine days on, a statement from the Tenerife police on Tuesday said that several Canine Guides of the Civil Guard were dispatched from Madrid with dogs “specialised in the search for people on large areas of land”.
A potential sighting of the apprentice bricklayer at a nearby town of Santiago de Tiete is also being investigated by Spanish police, with the local mayor Emilio Jose Navarro stating that CCTV had been requested from the town hall.
A grainy image had been shared to British media outlets, which showed a young man crossing the road in the town on Monday evening, but it is impossible to make out his face.
Speaking to The Independent, locals shared their disbelief and confusion as to how the teenager could have made his way across the mountainous terrain.
One woman named Anita said: “People have said there was a sighting of him here, but no one knows anything - his family come here but there’s nothing to show he is here, as far as I know no shop or cafe has seen him.”
While they were not seen on Tuesday, Mr Slater’s father has appeared at the search site and the town in recent days, where he has been seen putting up posters on the bus stops and around the main square.
Speaking to reporters, Warren Slater said: “Nobody’s told us. The mountain police [have been] brilliant... but I don’t know how the other police [force] works.“
“They could be doing everything but if they are doing [something], they’re not telling us what they’re doing, if you understand what I’m saying.”
While firefighters and police officers continue to comb through difficult terrain in windy conditions, armchair sleuths and conspiracy theorists have come under criticism for spreading speculation on social media.
A Swedish couple who were visiting the area on a hiking holiday said they had passed a TikToker on Sunday near the search site, who had been filming content and before venturing into the brush to pursue emergency workers.
Peter and Ingrid, who did not wish to give their surname, said they also believed the search efforts were dying down, with no helicopters or drones in sight by Tuesday afternoon.
The Guardia Civil have insisted their efforts “are not being scaled back”, while Mr Navarro added: “As a father, I understand. All our resources and means are being used to find him.”
The teenager’s mother has previously criticised social media users who have been spreading unfounded theories about her son’s disappearance, and those who have criticised the GoFundMe page, which has raised over £30,000.
“I am really am saddened by all your comments. You seem to be so bothered about this gofund me page. I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag,” Debbie Duncan wrote on Facebook.
