Spain on fire alert due to heatwave

The three wildfires that affected more than a thousand hectares of land in Spain over the weekend are now under control as of Monday morning. However, the majority of the country's regions have been placed on alert on the first day of a new heatwave, the third one this summer.

Several areas in Andalusia (south), Castilla-La Mancha (central), and Extremadura (west) are under orange alert, with temperatures expected to reach up to 43 degrees Celsius on Monday, according to the Spanish National Meteorological Agency.

Andalusia, Extremadura, and southern Castilla-La Mancha are under a red alert, facing a high risk of wildfires, while nearly all other regions are under an orange alert.

This third heatwave of the summer is expected to last until Thursday and comes after an intense weekend for Spanish firefighters.

One of the fires broke out at least ten kilometers from the city of Cádiz (Andalusia) on Sunday afternoon and "stabilized" before midnight, as announced by the regional forest fire service on Twitter.

Another fire occurred in a nearby pine forest close to the tourist city of Puerto Real, leading to a temporary closure of the highway leading to Cádiz and the mobilization of dozens of firefighters throughout the night.

A third fire, which is now under control, burned about 450 hectares in the province of Huelva (Andalusia) on Saturday and Sunday.

In Catalonia (northeast) on the Mediterranean coast near the French border, firefighters have been struggling with a fire since Friday, which spread due to strong winds that hindered the use of helicopters.

On Monday morning, the Catalonia fire service reported on Twitter that they have "gained control" of the fire after it "stabilized" on Saturday evening. Around 30 units remain at the site, and about 600 hectares have burned, according to the Catalan Forest Guard.

Catalonia and Andalusia are the two regions facing the most severe drought in Spain, which contributes to the spread of wildfires.

More than 70,000 hectares of land have burned in Spain since the beginning of the year. In 2022, over 300,000 hectares were destroyed in more than 500 wildfires in Spain, setting a record for Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

Experts attribute the increase in heatwaves' duration and intensity to climate change.

Spain, where 75% of its land is currently threatened by desertification according to the United Nations, is the most exposed among Western European countries to this phenomenon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP