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Date Published: 21/07/2022

ARCHIVED - Worst wave of wildfires in history blaze through Spain with no end in sight

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The fires have already burned through nearly 200,000 hectares of land across Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Worst wave of wildfires in history blaze through Spain with no end in sight

The onset of the summer has created some of the darkest days in Spain as wildfires continue to devastate the countryside, gobbling up 193,247 hectares of land so far. The figures speak for themselves: according to the European Forest Fire System (EFFIS), this is the most devastating wave of forest fires since records began, eclipsing even the carnage of 2012, when 189,376 hectares burned.

The frightening thing is that this environmental catastrophe looks to be far from over; although the July heatwave has passed, the temperatures are still abnormally high and several communities remain on high alert for scorching heat. In addition, a strong wind is now blowing in much of the country, fanning the flames further.

In Galicia, wildfires divided into 16 different sources were still raging on Wednesday July 20 and had torn through more than 30,000 hectares, with several blazes still active and far from under control despite the enormous firefighting operation deployed to the area.

In León, the residents of the town of Salas de la Ribera were allowed to return to their homes after being evacuated on Tuesday, but in nearby San Pedro de Trones people continue to be moved as the wildfire remains at level two of danger, on a progressive scale from zero to three.

In Zaragoza, the Ateca fire continues, fanned on by a change in wind direction. So far it is estimated that 14,000 hectares of land have burned while 1,700 people from five municipalities have been evacuated. Several roads and the main railway line have also been closed.

In the middle of all this devastation, earlier this week incredible footage emerged of a local Tábara man being engulfed in flames as he tried to douse the fire. A sudden change in the wind consumed his machinery and seconds later, he could be seen running for his life with his clothes on fire.

This is but a snapshot of carnage being caused by the harshest wildfires in Spanish history, and with temperatures continuing to rise, firefighters are bracing themselves for yet another wave of destruction.

Heatwaves and forest fires in Spain are nothing new as they happen almost every summer. But they are getting much worse, much more frequent and more intense and vicious as a result of climate change.

If people don’t change their behaviour immediately to prevent further burning of coal, gas and other non-renewable energies, the planet will continue to see more extreme weather events such as these, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if next year even the records that have been set for high temperatures and the number of hectares destroyed by fire are beaten once again.

Image: Archive

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