Spain wildfires 'under control' as weather conditions improve

Spain wildfires 'under control' as weather conditions improve
by AFP Staff Writers
Madrid (AFP) April 1, 2023

Multiple wildfires that have ravaged northern Spain in recent days have subsided, largely thanks to improved weather conditions, authorities said on Saturday.

In the Asturias region, where the blaze has ravaged 11,000 hectares (27,181 acres), 71 fires were still underway on Saturday, compared to over 90 the previous day.

But almost all of them are "under control and stabilised", Oscar Rodriguez, head of the region's emergency services, told journalists.

Firefighters have been helped by light rain and favourable winds.

Adrian Barbon, the regional president of Asturias, blamed arson for "clearly a coordinated action by environmental terrorists", which could have caused "hundreds of deaths".

In neighbouring Cantabria, two out of 35 fires recorded on Friday are still burning, but both are "under control", the regional government said on Twitter.

In the eastern region of Valencia, nearly 4,700 hectares (11,614 acres) have been consumed by the flames.

Spain is experiencing long-term drought after three years of below-average rainfall.

In 2022, a particularly bad year for wildfires in Europe, Spain was the continent's worst-hit country. Nearly 500 blazes destroyed more than 300,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

Climate change amplifies droughts that create ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

Northern Spain ravaged by more than 100 fires
Madrid (AFP) March 31, 2023 - More than one hundred illegally started fires ravaged northern Spain on Friday, according to authorities while blazes that raged for over a week in the country's east were under control.

In total, 119 fires continued to rage on Friday afternoon in the region of Asturias and in neighbouring Cantabria, according to the authorities of the northern regions.

Of these fires, 91 were in Asturias.

At the worst point, there were 160 fires in the two mountainous regions known for their forests, which are vulnerable to forest fires, but authorities said were started by criminals.

"We are facing real terrorists who have put in danger lives, villages and cities," said Adrian Barbon, the regional president of Asturias on Twitter.

"Those who act like this don't deserve any other name," he told journalists.

Hundreds of people were evacuated and a number of roads were closed, authorities said.

During a visit to China, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter that he had spoken to Barbon and expressed his "solidarity with the impacted families".

In Castellon, in eastern Valencia, where a significant forest fire has blazed since March 23, firefighters had stabilised the fires by Friday, according to the emergency services.

Considered the first major fire of the year in Spain, a total of 4,700 hectares (11,600 acres) were ravaged, and 1,300 people were forced to evacuate, but they have now started to return to home.

Spain has faced a long drought after three years of inadequate rainfall. Seasonal fires, until now generally limited to summer, will now become a feature of spring and autumn as a result of climate change, authorities warn.

Europe was ravaged by forest fires in 2022, and Spain was the worst affected country with close to 500 blazes which destroyed more than 300,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.