The fires raging in Spain since last Wednesday have destroyed at least 60,000 hectares of forest. This has been reported by the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE based on information from the authorities of the affected regions.
“This is the worst fire disaster since records are kept,” civil defense director Leonardo Marcos told Cadena Ser radio station. And he made no bones about it. “One of the main factors is the severe heat wave, which is the result of human-induced climate change.”
The situation was very bad in Zamora (close to the border with Portugal) and in Avila (northwest of Madrid). In those two provinces, about 10,000 people had to be taken to safety since Sunday.
“Zamora turns into hell”
In Zamora, two people were killed and at least 15 injured. 30,000 hectares of forest burned to the ground. “Zamora is turning to hell,” headlined Zamora News.
Since the beginning of the year, flames in Spain have already destroyed more than 100,000 hectares. That is almost 13,000 hectares more than in the whole of 2021, according to RTVE.
There were also hallucinatory images of panicking travelers due to a forest fire next to the railway. The train ran between Madrid and Ferrol, but the fire forced the colossus to a halt.
Also read: After the fires in De Haan and Oudsbergen: should Flanders start to worry about wildfires? (+)
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