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The state television broadcaster RTVE reported on Tuesday, citing the authorities of the various regions affected. “In terms of fire, this is the worst emergency on record,” civil defense director Leonardo Marcos told radio station Cadena Ser.
Among other things, “one of the largest known heat waves” contributes to this, which is due to man-made climate change. According to Marcos, six major wildfires were active on Wednesday. The regions of Castile and León and Galicia in the west and north-west of the country were particularly affected.
The situation was particularly bad in Zamora, near the border with Portugal, and in Ávila, northwest of Madrid. In these two provinces, both of which are in the so-called Autonomous Community of Castile and León, a total of around 10,000 people from around 50 towns have had to be brought to safety from the flames since Sunday.
In Zamora alone, two fires have already razed 30,000 hectares of forest to the ground. There have already been two fatalities – a 62-year-old firefighter and a 69-year-old shepherd – and at least 15 injured. Scores of homes were destroyed in Zamora, Ávila and across Spain, and in Zamora alone, thousands of animals died, regional authorities said. “Zamora is going to hell,” headlined the digital newspaper Zamora News.
Since the beginning of the year, the flames in Spain have already destroyed more than 100,000 hectares. According to RTVE, that is almost 13,000 hectares more than in the entire previous year. But there was also good news for the 47 million inhabitants of Spain: The heat wave, which has officially lasted for eleven days, should come to an end on Tuesday, according to the national weather service Aemet.
For various regions of the country, however, temperatures of up to 40 degrees were also predicted for the next few days. On the popular holiday island of Mallorca, the mercury column should climb to around 38 degrees between Tuesday and Thursday. In Portugal, meanwhile, three larger forest fires were still active on Wednesday, which were fought by almost 800 emergency services.
Source: Nachrichten
