The scorching heat wave that hits much of the Iberian Peninsula caused three first fires in northeastern Spain on Thursday, as Spanish and Portuguese authorities raised the alert level in both countries.
In Spain as in neighboring Portugal, the risk of fires is all the more worrying as the Mediterranean basin has been the scene for several weeks of devastating fires, especially in Greece and Algeria.
The most important fire is that of Catalonia, which affects a protected forest area of 41 hectares on the coast of the province of Tarragona.
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The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition announced in a tweet that it had sent "six aerial firefighting assets" to fight three fires in Aragon, Rioja and Catalonia, three regions in the northeast, in support of the resources deployed. by the regional governments concerned.
🔴El @mitecogob ha enviado6️⃣medios aéreos lucha contra el fuego #IIFF in apoyo de las #CCAA
👉En #IFPobladeMassaluca, Cataluña
🛩️4️⃣Anfibios
👉En # IFValDeSanMartín, Zaragoza
🧑🚒1️⃣BRIF
👉En # IFGrañón, La Rioja
Carga ✈️2️⃣Aviones of in Tierra
📸 @bomberscat pic.twitter.com/7W8Nu6qwSc
- Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico (@mitecogob) August 12, 2021
In Spain, the fire risk is rated "extreme" in much of the country on Thursday and Friday, according to the National Meteorological Agency (AEMET), which has yet to release its risk forecast for the following days.
In Portugal, the fire alert is "maximum" between Thursday and Monday in the northern and central regions of the interior of the country, as well as part of the Algarve (south), Météo Portugal reported.
Multiplying heat waves
These risks are the consequence of a heat wave which must make the mercury flirt with 40 ° C at least until Monday in much of the peninsula, with significantly higher peaks in several regions such as the south of the Spain.
On Wednesday, temperatures reached 42 ° C in the province of Ciudad Real (central Spain), according to AEMET measurements.
For the first time since 1920, the famous Retiro Park, very popular with Madrileños looking for a shady spot, should display more than 40 ° C for three consecutive days, from Friday to Sunday, the spokesperson said. word of AEMET, Rubén del Campo, on Twitter.
These temperatures, far above seasonal norms, are due to the arrival of a mass of very hot air from North Africa, combined with a strong solar exposure, explained the two meteorological agencies.
Temperaturas temperaturas previstas para Madrid por los miembros del modelo de predicción por conjuntos del @ECMWF.
El viernes, sábado y domingo podrían alcanzarse en el Retiro los 40º.
Sería la primera vez que sucede durante tres días consecutivos en este observatorio centenario pic.twitter.com/uzNMDGDBJK
- Rubén del Campo (@Rub_dc) August 12, 2021
Between 2011 and 2020, Spain recorded twice as many heat waves as in each of the previous three decades, said Rubén del Campo.
"The next few days are going to be difficult"
Scientists regard repeated heat waves as an unequivocal product of global warming and believe that these heat waves are bound to multiply, lengthen and intensify.
"In Spain, we are not immune to this danger," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned on Wednesday about the fires, adding that the country had entered "a risk zone" with the arrival of this heat wave.
He also called on his compatriots "to be very careful".
His Portuguese counterpart, Antonio Costa, echoed him on Thursday afternoon. "We already know that the next few days are going to be difficult," he warned in press statements from the civil protection headquarters, calling on the Portuguese to be vigilant and to avoid "risky behavior". “We are facing a permanent challenge which is the result of climate change,” he added. Portugal experienced deadly fires in 2017 that claimed more than a hundred victims.
