More than a hundred fires of arson, according to the authorities, ravaged this Friday the north of Spain, while another important fire which had been raging for more than a week was stabilized near Valencia, in the east of the country.
A total of 119 fires are underway on Friday afternoon in the region of Asturias and in the neighboring region of Cantabria, according to the authorities of these two autonomous communities located in the far north of Spain, on the Atlantic coast of the country. Of these, 91 concern Asturias alone. A peak of 160 simultaneous fires was even recorded in these two mountainous regions known for their deciduous forests, according to the authorities, who ensure that these fire starts are of criminal origin.
“We are facing real terrorists who endanger lives, villages and cities,” Asturias regional president Adrián Barbón wrote on Twitter. “Those who acted in this way do not deserve another name,” he added to the press.
Due to these multiple forest fires, fanned by strong winds, several hundred people had to be evacuated and many roads were closed, according to the authorities.
Three years of below average precipitation
The Asturian coastal town of Valdés, surrounded by fires, was thus cut off from the world, while the capital of Asturias, Oviedo, saw the flames reaching its doors due to a fire on Mount Naranco.
Visiting China, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Twitter that he had spoken with Adrián Barbón and expressed “(his) solidarity with the affected families”. In Castellón, in the Valencia region (east), where a major forest fire has been underway since March 23, firefighters, on the other hand, managed to stabilize the fire on Friday, according to the regional emergency service. This disaster, considered the first major forest fire of the year in Spain, ravaged a total of 4,700 hectares of land and forced the evacuation of 1,300 people.
In Spain, facing a long drought after three years of below-average rainfall, authorities believe that the fire season, previously limited to summer, now runs from spring to autumn, a consequence of climate change .
In 2022, a black year for forest fires in Europe, Spain was the most affected country on the continent, with nearly 500 fires that ravaged more than 300,000 hectares, according to the European Fire Information System of forest (Effis).