The most important of these forest fires forced the authorities to evacuate fourteen villages, in the region of Castille-et-Léon, near the border with Portugal. In all, the fires ravaged more than 22,000 hectares.
Le Monde with AFP
The firefighters continued, Saturday, June 18, to fight fires in Spain, on the last day of an extreme and unusually early heat wave.
The most important of these forest fires forced the authorities to evacuate fourteen villages, bringing together several hundred inhabitants, in the Sierra de la Culebra, a mountain range from the Castille-et-Léon region, near the border with Portugal. According to the regional authorities, part of them were able to return to their home on Saturday morning, the flames having moved away from the dwellings concerned.
Despite everything, the fire “remains active”, underlined the government of Castile-et-Léon, which evokes “unfavorable” weather conditions, with a dry wind and high temperatures. In total, “19,765 hectares burned” in this fire, he said.
The firefighters also continued to fight against other fires in Caudiel, in the region of Valence (East), or in Artesa de Segre, in Catalonia (northeast), where a fire in progress since Wednesday has already ravaged 1,600 hectares of land.
Other fires were on the other hand under control, especially in the Iruelas valley, near Avila (center), and in the Tolede region (center), where nearly 900 hectares burned nearby from the Puy du Fou amusement park. Due to this fire, nearly 3,000 people had to be evacuated on Friday from this theme park, a subsidiary of Puy du Fou français. The fire having been mastered, “the park reopened on Saturday, said management at the France-Presse agency (AFP).
up to 43 ° C in Saragosse
This series of fires occurs while Spain has faced a very intense and unusual heat wave for a week for a week at this time of the year, considered by scientists as a consequence of global warming.
According to the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET), very high temperatures were still expected on Saturday, especially in Toledo (41 ° C), and in the Ebre Valley, at the foot of the Pyrenees, with points at 42 ° C, or even 43 ° C, expected in Zaragoza.
In northern Italy, Lombardy is preparing to declare the state of emergency in the face of a record drought threatening the crops, and the water is already rationed in several cities of the PO plain. This region Faces his worst drought for seventy years.
The United Nations (UN) called on Friday to “act now” against drought and desertification in order to avoid “human disasters”. “It is time to act: each action counts,” said the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on the Fight against Desertification (CNULCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, at a conference in Madrid during the World Drought Day.
This heat wave, which also touches France, should end Sunday, thanks to a colder air mass from the West, according to the Aemet.
Spain, which has known its hottest month this year since the start of the century according to the meteorological agency, has already crossed four episodes of extreme temperatures over the last ten months, including the heat wave Current.