(Madrid) The first big fire of the year in Spain, which led to the evacuation of around 1,500 people, remained out of control in the east of the country on Friday due to conditions conducive to the advance of the flames.
“We are facing a fire rather typical of the summer”, worried, on the public radio RNE, Manolo Nicolás, spokesman for the firefighters of the province of Castellón where this fire broke out.
Speaking from Brussels, where he took part in a European summit, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez judged that such a “fire so early [in the year] is further proof of the climate emergency that humanity is experiencing. and which particularly affects countries like ours”.
“The only thing I can ask” of the population “is to exercise the utmost caution” in the face of “this terrible fire”, he insisted, promising to “put all the resources” possible for the fire. ‘to extinguish.
According to the government of the Valencia region, where the province of Castellón is located, 450 firefighters, supported by 22 aerial means, were fighting the flames which have already devastated 3,000 hectares of vegetation.
This fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in the town of Villanueva de Viver and led to the evacuation of around 1,500 people in the region of Valencia and in the neighboring region of Aragon, explained the number two of the Valencian regional government. , Aitana Mas.
“The perfect ingredients for a fire of these characteristics” are present, underlined Manolo Nicolás, citing the drought of the last few months and a “large amount of fuel”, that is to say in particular brushwood, in the forests. .
He also underlined the impact of the wind coming from the East, which will strengthen in the hours to come, complicating the task of firefighters.
The area that arouses the most fears is near the tourist resort of Montanejos, which had to be evacuated when its hotels were full, its mayor, Miguel Sandalinas, told RNE.
“Today it will be 30 degrees” when we are “in the middle of March”, he said sorry, denouncing the consequences of “climate change”.
Last summer, Spain was hit by particularly devastating fires and was the worst affected country in Europe.
In total, in 2022, nearly 500 fires charred more than 300,000 hectares in the country, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
