Wildfire menaces Spanish tourist hotspot, Portugal seeks help

BARCELONA: Hundreds of Spanish firefighters battled an expanding wildfire near the tourist hotspot of Costa Brava on Friday as Portugal sought outside help to combat forest fires in its north.

The Costa Brava blaze started in the morning near the northeastern municipality of La Bisbal d’Emporda, around 20km (12 miles) from a picturesque coastline usually full of summer holidaymakers.

Strong winds whipped up the fire and prompted Catalan regional authorities to ask residents of 10 municipalities to stay at home, including the popular Platja d’Aro beach resort.

Regional emergency services said around 150 people had been evacuated, including some 70 children from a holiday camp.

Footage shared by the Catalan fire service showed helicopters swooping to drop water on the flames amid thick masses of grey and orange smoke billowing from hilly, forested terrain.

Bathers enjoying the sunny weather on a nearby beach were confronted with the sight of a water bomber flying low overhead and smoke covering the horizon.

“The column (of smoke) is very slanted, it has formed a very violent pyrocumulus that would keep shifting,” said Catalan fire service chief David Borrell.

More than 200 firefighters have been deployed, including aerial resources, the service announced.

The Catalan regional government’s interior minister, Nuria Parlon, said the flames had consumed 1,280 hectares (3,160 acres) and that more than 200 troops from the army’s emergencies unit were on their way.

Their tasks would include “guaranteeing coverage in case we have simultaneous incidents”, a scenario with a “high probability”, she added.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed “concern” on X and urged citizens to “take the utmost caution in light of the high temperatures in the coming days”.

Catalan police said a man had been arrested on suspicion of starting the fire “while he was using an angle grinder by the roadside”.

Spain is on the front line of climate change, which scientists say increases the intensity, frequency and duration of the extreme heat that fuels wildfires.

Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares (989,000 acres) of land last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.

In neighbouring Portugal, authorities decided on Friday to activate the European civil protection mechanism as well as bilateral agreements with Spain and Morocco for reinforcements.

Portugal seeks help

“At this stage, we have decided to activate the European civil protection mechanism as well as the bilateral agreements with Spain and Morocco. Not because our capacities are already exhausted but because in the current situation, our entire territory is exposed to a very high risk,” prime minister Luis Montenegro said.

A forest fire raging in northern Portugal since Wednesday night has left at least nine people injured, with two in serious condition.

“There are three firefighters with minor injuries and one civilian seriously injured, with burns,” a spokesperson for the National Civil Protection Authority told AFP.

The fire broke out in the municipality of Vouzela, in the district of Viseu, and, according to Civil Protection commander Mario Silvestre, has already scorched an estimated 10,000 hectares.

Around 1,000 firefighters, supported by some 300 vehicles and eight planes or helicopters, were deployed on Friday to fight the flames.

Four other smaller outbreaks were being fought by at least 100 firefighters each.

Due to “very hot and dry” weather, with temperatures that could reach 44°C in some areas, the Portuguese meteorological agency has placed 12 of the country’s 18 mainland districts on red alert.

The highest alert level will be maintained on Saturday and Sunday in around 10 regions.

Hit by forest fires every summer, Portugal remains scarred by the deadly blazes that claimed more than a hundred lives in 2017.