2023-08-04 20:54:05
A forest fire on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, on the border with France, was progressing rapidly on the evening of Friday August 4 due to high winds. The area affected by the fire extended over 150 hectares around 7:30 p.m. local time, compared to 50 hectares less than an hour earlier, according to the latest provisional report published on X (ex-Twitter) by the forest guards depending on the government. Catalan.
“Because of the fire in Portbou”a Spanish locality bordering France with an important station between the two countries, “the firefighters of Catalonia have ordered the confinement of the municipality of Colera, the area of La Rovellada and the campsite of Sant Miquel”, said the civil protection of the Catalan region. The village of Colera sees its population of 500 inhabitants explode every summer due to the influx of tourists. The Sant Miquel campsite has a capacity of 720 people, according to a Catalan government website.
French firefighters mobilized
Dozens of firefighter units, including several air units, are already mobilized, said the Catalan firefighters. Ten French fire trucks and light vehicles, from the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales, bordering the area of the fire, are taking part in the operation. A French water bomber plane was dispatched, but it was unable to drop due to strong winds, a spokesman for the French fire department told Agence France-Presse, adding at the start of the week. evening that “for the moment the fire is confined to Spanish territory”.
Spanish firefighters explained that “air operations were complicated” by a north wind, with gusts of more than 50 kilometers per hour, according to the Spanish meteorological agency Aemet.
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