Spanish PM warns 'difficult hours' left in wildfire fight
Global warming is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves around the world. By lowering humidity in the air, vegetation and soil, and reducing the threshold at which materials ignite, heatwaves turn vegetation into highly flammable fuel and make wildfires even harder to control. While the phenomenon has fuelled fires across southern Europe this summer, Spain has been hit particularly hard – finally getting some respite on Tuesday.
Cooler, more humid conditions gave firefighters an edge in the west of the country, but officials warned it would still take weeks to put the fires out completely. "The evolution is favorable in all the fires," said Alfonso Fernandez Manueco of Castile and Leon's regional government, before adding that the situation could change. The region had faced "unprecedented, extraordinary" weather conditions, he said, with high temperatures and strong winds. Extremadura regional official Abel Bautista told Spanish public television they were now focused on stabilizing the fires, adding: "We are very far from that."
'Fire from everywhere'
Some 373,000 hectares have been scorched in Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. That marks the country's worst fire season since records began in 2006, surpassing 2022 when 306,000 hectares were consumed by flames.
The fires – along with those affecting neighbouring Portugal – have released smoke and greenhouse gases over the Iberian Peninsula at levels not seen since the start of these records in 2003, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Dozens of villages have been evacuated, roads closed and the train service between Madrid and Galicia remains suspended because of the wildfires. "We had to run away because the fire was coming in from everywhere – everywhere – above us, below us, all around," Isidoro, 83, told Agence France-Presse in the Ourense province of Galicia.
Four people have been killed by the fires in Spain and two more in Portugal. Officials in Spain stated that many fires were sparked by lightning during dry storms, though arson is suspected in some cases. The interior ministry said 32 people have been arrested and 188 investigations had been launched.
Sanchez was visiting Extremadura on Tuesday, his second visit to the affected areas in recent days, and once again called for a "state pact to confront the climate emergency." "Every year the climate emergency worsens," he said.
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LeMonde
19 hours ago
- LeMonde
Spanish PM warns 'difficult hours' left in wildfire fight
Spain still faces "difficult hours" ahead in its fight against wildfires that have ravaged a record area of land, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Tuesday, August 19, despite the onset of cooler weather. The country has faced 16 days of scorching heat, which the public health agency announced Tuesday could be linked to as many as 1,149 excess deaths – mostly over-65s and those already suffering from illnesses. The most intense heat, when temperatures surpassed 40°C in many regions of Spain, has now passed, but Sanchez urged people to "exercise extreme caution," adding: "Critical moments remain, difficult hours remain." Global warming is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves around the world. By lowering humidity in the air, vegetation and soil, and reducing the threshold at which materials ignite, heatwaves turn vegetation into highly flammable fuel and make wildfires even harder to control. While the phenomenon has fuelled fires across southern Europe this summer, Spain has been hit particularly hard – finally getting some respite on Tuesday. Cooler, more humid conditions gave firefighters an edge in the west of the country, but officials warned it would still take weeks to put the fires out completely. "The evolution is favorable in all the fires," said Alfonso Fernandez Manueco of Castile and Leon's regional government, before adding that the situation could change. The region had faced "unprecedented, extraordinary" weather conditions, he said, with high temperatures and strong winds. Extremadura regional official Abel Bautista told Spanish public television they were now focused on stabilizing the fires, adding: "We are very far from that." 'Fire from everywhere' Some 373,000 hectares have been scorched in Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. That marks the country's worst fire season since records began in 2006, surpassing 2022 when 306,000 hectares were consumed by flames. The fires – along with those affecting neighbouring Portugal – have released smoke and greenhouse gases over the Iberian Peninsula at levels not seen since the start of these records in 2003, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Dozens of villages have been evacuated, roads closed and the train service between Madrid and Galicia remains suspended because of the wildfires. "We had to run away because the fire was coming in from everywhere – everywhere – above us, below us, all around," Isidoro, 83, told Agence France-Presse in the Ourense province of Galicia. Four people have been killed by the fires in Spain and two more in Portugal. Officials in Spain stated that many fires were sparked by lightning during dry storms, though arson is suspected in some cases. The interior ministry said 32 people have been arrested and 188 investigations had been launched. Sanchez was visiting Extremadura on Tuesday, his second visit to the affected areas in recent days, and once again called for a "state pact to confront the climate emergency." "Every year the climate emergency worsens," he said.
France 24
20 hours ago
- France 24
Spanish PM says 'difficult hours' left in wildfire fight
The country has faced 16 days of scorching heat, which the public health agency announced Tuesday could be linked to as many as 1,149 excess deaths -- mostly over-65s and those already suffering from illnesses. The most intense heat, when temperatures surpassed 40C in many regions of Spain, has now passed but Sanchez urged people to "exercise extreme caution", adding: "Critical moments remain, difficult hours remain." Global warming is driving longer, more intense, and more frequent heatwaves around the world. By lowering humidity in the air, vegetation, and soil, and reducing the threshold at which materials ignite, heatwaves turn vegetation into highly flammable fuel and make wildfires even harder to control. While the phenomenon has fuelled fires across southern Europe this summer, Spain has been hit particularly hard -- finally getting some respite on Tuesday. Cooler, more humid conditions gave firefighters an edge in the west of the country, but officials warned it would still take weeks to put the fires out completely. "The evolution is favourable in all the fires," said Alfonso Fernandez Manueco of Castile and Leon's regional government, before adding that the situation could change. The region had faced "unprecedented, extraordinary" weather conditions, he said, with high temperatures and strong winds. Extremadura regional official Abel Bautista told Spanish public television they were now focused on stabilising the fires, adding: "We are very far from that." 'Fire from everywhere' Some 373,000 hectares have been scorched in Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. That marks the country's worst fire season since records began in 2006, surpassing 2022, when 306,000 hectares were consumed by flames. The fires -- along with those affecting neighbouring Portugal -- have released smoke and greenhouse gases over the Iberian Peninsula at levels not seen since the start of these records in 2003, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Dozens of villages have been evacuated, roads closed and the train service between Madrid and Galicia remains suspended because of the wildfires. "We had to run away because the fire was coming in from everywhere -- everywhere -- above us, below us, all around," Isidoro, 83, told AFP in the Ourense province of Galicia. Four people have been killed by the fires in Spain and two more in Portugal. Officials in Spain said many fires were sparked by lightning during dry storms, though arson is suspected in some cases. The interior ministry said 32 people have been arrested and 188 investigations had been launched. Sanchez was visiting Extremadura on Tuesday, his second to the affected areas in recent days, and once again called for a "state pact to confront the climate emergency". "Every year the climate emergency worsens," he said.
Euronews
21 hours ago
- Euronews
Fires continue in norhwestern Spain despite end of heatwave
ADVERTISEMENT The Spanish government will declare the areas affected by deadly wildfires that have ravaged much of northern Galicia province as disaster zones. On Tuesday, Spanish firefighters were still at work for a 10th consecutive day to put out a dozen different fires which have collectively burned more than 3,800 kilometres of Spanish woodlands. The fires are some of the country's most destructive fire seasons in recent decades and continue to rage despite temperatures dropping in the Iberian Peninsula following a record-setting European heatwave that has gripped much of the continent's south. Thousands of firefighters aided by soldiers and water-bombing aircraft are continuing to fight fires tearing through parched woodland that were especially severe in north-western Spain, where the country's weather agency AEMET reported a still "very high or extreme" fire risk. The fires in Galicia have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns, forcing locals in many cases to step in before firefighters arrive. Firefighting units from Germany arrived in northern Spain on Tuesday to help fight the blazes, according to Spain's Interior Ministry. More than 20 vehicles were deployed to help fight an ongoing blaze in Jarilla in the Extremadura region, which borders Portugal. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the area Tuesday, where he spoke of the unprecedented heat that has fuelled the fires. Over the last few days, Madrid says Galicia recorded an average daily temperature exceeding 42 degrees Celsius. "Science tells us, common sense tells us too, especially that of farmers and ranchers, of those who live in rural areas, that the climate is changing, that the climate emergency is becoming more and more recurrent, more frequent and has an ever greater impact," Sánchez said. The fires in Spain have killed four people this year and burned more than 3,800 square kilometres, according to the European Union's European Forest Fire Information System. That surface area is more than twice the size of metropolitan London. Many fires have been triggered by human activity. Police have detained 23 people for suspected arson and are investigating 89 more for alleged involvement in sparking or contributing to the disaster. In neighbouring Portugal, more than 3,700 firefighters were braving the flames on Tuesday, including four major active wildfires in central and northern parts of the country. Fires in Portugal have also torched vast areas of land. The European monitor says 2,350 square kilometres were affected by the fires in the country, which have also killed at least two people. The figure is a five-fold increase over an almost two decade average for this period, ranging from 2006 to 2024. Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Scientists say that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness in parts of Europe, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires and necessitating urgent action to reverse the deadly trajectory. Additional sources • AP
