the multiple forest fires are “under control”

The forest fires, of criminal origin, are now almost all extinguished. Some 400 people were evacuated in Asturias and Cantabria.

By NJ with AFP

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The fires that have been ravaging northern Spain for a few days are now “under control”.
© JOSE JORDAN / AFP

Published on 04/01/2023 at 5:08 p.m.

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Lhe multiple forest fires, of criminal origin, which have ravaged northern Spain for several days, were stabilized on Saturday 1^is April, thanks to more favorable weather conditions, the authorities announced.

In Asturias, firefighters have been helped in recent hours by a less strong wind and the arrival of light rain. In this autonomous community, located on the northern Atlantic coast of the country, 71 fires were still in progress, Saturday noon, against more than 90 the day before. But almost all of them are “under control”, said Oscar Rodriguez, the region’s emergency services manager.

In the neighboring region of Cantabria, 35 fires were recorded on Friday. They are now “all extinct”, said the regional government on Twitter, with the exception of two forest fires still in progress but, there too, “under control”.

“Coordinated action by environmental terrorists”

An important device has been deployed by the firefighters and nearly 400 people have been evacuated in recent days. In Asturias, some 11,000 hectares went up in smoke, according to Oscar Rodriguez. These fires were deliberately started, according to the authorities. There was “clearly a coordinated action by environmental terrorists” which could have caused “hundreds of deaths”, denounced Adrian Barbon, the regional president of Asturias.

The Valencia region, to the east, is also affected by these forest fires. In Castellon, a fire burned nearly 4,700 hectares of vegetation this week.

As a result of climate change, the fire season, previously limited to summer, now runs from spring to autumn, say the authorities. Spain was the European country most affected in 2022 by this phenomenon, with nearly 500 fires having ravaged more than 300,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. A scenario that could happen again this year, with Spain facing a long drought, after three years of below-average rainfall.