The first major forest fire of the year in Spain has stopped for the time being. Since yesterday, the flames on the border between the regions of Valencia and Aragon in the east of the country have stopped spreading, as the state television broadcaster RTVE reported today, citing the authorities.

The fire, which has been raging since Thursday, is not yet under control, it was emphasized. So far it has destroyed around 4000 hectares. This corresponds to an area of ​​about 5500 soccer fields. According to the latest information, a total of 1,750 people have been evacuated from their homes in more than ten towns in the provinces of Castellón and Teruel as a precaution.

Around 700 emergency services

According to the official information, the extinguishing work continued uninterruptedly at night. The flames were fought today by around 700 emergency services, who were supported, among other things, by more than 20 helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft.

An increase in humidity has recently had a positive effect, emphasized a spokesman for the regional government of Valencia. According to RTVE, the fire led to some power outages, among other things, and several country roads are still closed today, it said.

Drought allows fires

The cause of the fire remained unknown for the time being. The authorities suspect "an incorrectly carried out agricultural combustion". The Spanish Minister for Ecological Change, Teresa Ribera, also pointed to man-made climate change.

"We are experiencing the fifth drought year in a row on the Iberian Peninsula," Ribera was quoted as saying by state television station RTVE. Unfortunately, there are more and more large fires outside of the fire season.

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.