Spanish and Portuguese firefighters mobilized against the fire that affects a perimeter of 8500 hectares in the Spanish region of Extremadura (west) hoped Saturday to deal it "a big blow", said the authorities. "There are a lot of resources on the ground and the work we are doing is very intense," said civil protection coordinator Nieves Villar, noting that there was little wind in the area. "It is a fire that is better circumcised," said Nieves Villar from Pinofranqueado, a town near the burning forest, while specifying that we are still "far from being able to say that it is controlled".
The firefighters of Portugal joined their Spanish colleagues, explained the coordinator, pointing out that there are "more than 600 participants". In total, the disaster area measures between "8000 and 8500 hectares, but (...) We will have to wait a few days before we can draw more precisely the contours, "said the coordinator.
700 inhabitants evacuated
Some 700 residents have been evacuated from their homes and there are currently no plans to return to their homes. David Barona, commander of the Military Emergency Unit (EMU), told public television TVE that "the fire is currently confined to one area and work is underway to prevent it from escaping from there."
While summer, a good time for forest fires, has not yet arrived, Spain has already suffered several, having been the most affected country in Europe in 2022, with nearly 500 fires devouring more than 300,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
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As a European country on the front line of climate change, Spain has been experiencing an increase in heat waves for several years, with increasingly rare and irregular rainfall. The first quarter of this year was the "driest" since records began in 1961, according to the National Meteorological Agency.
In addition to the pronounced lack of rainfall, a very early wave of extreme temperatures was added at the end of April, which reached an absolute record for the month of April in mainland Spain of 38.8 ºC, a level more characteristic of summer months such as July or August.