The fires that ravage the western half of Spain burned an additional 30,000 hectares in twenty-four hours, according to data from the European satellite Copernicus published Tuesday, August 19. There were some 373,000 hectares burned in Spain on Tuesday morning since the start of the year, 30,000 more than Monday, a figure in constant progression, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), which uses Copernicus data.
Since the start of the effis surveys in 2006, this is the worst year for Spain concerning the surface devastated by the flames, beyond the previous record set in 2022 (306,000 hectares calcined). The majority of this surface burned in the large fires that have affected the provinces of Zamora and Léon in Castile-et-Léon (northwest) for ten days, that of Orense in Galicia (northwest), and in the province of Caceres En Estrémadure (West).
End of the heat wave
Thousands of dozens of villages have been evacuated, dozens of roads are cut and rail traffic between Madrid and Galicia is interrupted. The Spanish Prime Minister, the socialist Pedro Sanchez, is expected Tuesday at midday in the areas affected in Zamora and Caceres.
Even if the extinction of these fires will still take time, the end of the heat wave which affected Spain for sixteen days on Monday, on Monday, offers the hope of improving the situation. This meteorological change will result in a “Reduction of 10 to 12 degrees of maximum temperatures, to which must also be added the increase in humidity indices”explained Nicanor Sen, delegate of the government of Castille-et-Léon, on TVE public television. That “Facilitates and improves conditions” pour “Check these fires”he added.
