Spain wildfires: minister's joke about heat backfires
Óscar Puente, the transport minister and a close supporter of Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist prime minister, made the remark as about 21 fires burned across the country, claiming two lives and having scorched nearly 25,000 hectares this week.
Puente's quip targeted the conservative government head of the north-central Castile and León region, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, accusing him of being on holiday in Cádiz while his territory burnt. The minister said: 'Things are getting a little hot in Castile and León.'
The remark was widely seen as tasteless given the scale of the destruction. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the opposition Popular Party, immediately condemned the comment, calling for Sánchez to dismiss the minister.
Puente replied that if a regional leader were enjoying 'fiestas' while constituents suffered floods or fires, he would expect their removal too.
El País stated in an editorial on Wednesday: 'It's disheartening to see the government and the Popular Party embroiled in a dispute over the handling of the disasters in Castile and León. A country in shock deserves better than Minister Óscar Puente's frivolous comments on social media.'
Castile and León remains hardest hit, particularly in León and Zamora, affecting tens of municipalities and forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
Lake Carucedo was used as a water source for firefighters in Galicia
SAMUEL DE ROMAN PEREZ/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Elsewhere in the region, a firefighting volunteer died from severe burns, while several people were hospitalised as dozens of wildfires fuelled by strong winds and scorching heat continued to rage across the country. The victim, a 35-year-old volunteer, had been attempting to create firebreaks near the town of Nogarejas when he became trapped in the blaze, regional officials said.
An employee of a Spanish equestrian centre died from his injuries in Tres Cantos, a wealthy suburb north of Madrid, officials said, as he was reported to have tried to save horses.
This year's total of affected terrain exceeded 69,000 hectares, already above the 18-year average. Seven regions were grappling with blazes. Emergency forces, including 1,000 military personnel and over 5,000 police and civil guard members, were engaged in firefighting operations.
In Andalusia, in the south, the second fire in a few days in Tarifa forced the evacuation of 2,000 people on Monday while in Galicia, in the northwest, fires in Chandrexa de Queixa and Maceda burned a combined 4,330 hectares. Fire caused disruptions to high-speed rail services between Madrid and Galicia.
The village of Parafita in southern Galicia
VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA/REUTERS
The village of Vilaza in southern Galencia
MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Aemet, the national meteorological agency, said the forecast for extinguishing the fires was unfavourable until at least Thursday, due to expected dry storms that could spark more fires.
Extreme heat is breaking temperature records across Europe, with many areas seeing fires or raising alert levels.
In southwest France, records were broken on Monday in Angoulême, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion and Saint-Girons. Météo France said the 'often remarkable, even unprecedented, maximum temperatures' in the region were 12C above typical figures for the last few decades.
Large forest fires burned along the coast of Croatia, where temperatures exceeded 38 and 39C and affected neighbouring countries in the Balkans.
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Reuters
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