The first major forest fire of the year in Spain has already destroyed almost 4,000 hectares in the east of the country. In fighting the fire that broke out on the border between the regions of Aragon and Valencia, the first significant progress was made on Friday afternoon, the state television broadcaster RTVE and other Spanish media reported, citing the authorities.
As a precaution, around 1,500 people had been brought to safety from houses in more than ten towns in the provinces of Castellón and Teruel. "We were told to hurry out. We grabbed pajamas and that was it," a visibly worried elderly woman told RTVE. The mayor of the evacuated 550-inhabitant town of Montanejos, Miguel Sandalinas, said: "We are all very concerned."
According to official information, more than 3,800 hectares of forest were destroyed by the afternoon - equivalent to the area of around 5,500 football pitches. The flames spread rapidly from the start, said the head of government of the Valencia region, Ximo Puig. There were numerous power outages and several country roads were closed.
Fire season hasn't really started yet
The fire also raised concerns in Brussels. On the fringes of the EU summit, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the first major fire of the year had broken out before the actual fire season. The central government in Madrid will provide funds to extinguish the flames and restore the affected area.
According to the Aemet weather service, the extinguishing work was made more difficult by strong winds, low humidity and relatively high temperatures of more than 20 degrees. According to official information, around 20 helicopters and firefighting aircraft as well as dozens of ground units from the fire brigade, the military emergency aid unit UME, civil defense and the Samu emergency service were deployed on Friday.
2022 was the most devastating forest fire year for Spain since the European forest fire information system EFFIS began recording. According to measurements by the European earth observation system Copernicus, an area of a good 306,000 hectares was destroyed in 493 major fires last year. That's over 3000 square kilometers. For comparison: Saarland has an area of almost 2570 square kilometers.
