Although three wildfires that scorched more than 1,000 hectares in Spain over the weekend are now under control, the country remains on high alert for forest fires with the worst heatwave of the summer so far starting on Monday, seeing the possibility of up to 47C in parts of Andalusia on Wednesday.
The regions of Andalusia, the central Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura in the west were already placed on an orange alert with temperatures expected to reach 43C on Monday, according to the national weather agency AEMET.
It is the fourth summer heatwave to hit this summer, which is expected to last until Thursday. ALSO READ: A third heatwave hits Spain, as wildfire continues to burn in La Palma.
A fire that broke around 10 kilometres from the coastal city of Cádiz (Andalusia) on Sunday had ‘stabilised’ by midnight, the firefighting service Infoca said.
Another fire, also under control, blackened some 450 hectares near the southwestern city of Huelva between Saturday and Sunday.
In Catalonia and near the French border, firefighters had been working since Friday to extinguish a blaze that was being complicated by wind gusts.
Catalan fire officials said on Monday that the blaze was now under control, though around 30 firefighting units were still on site where nearly 600 hectares burned, forest officials said.
More than 70,000 hectares have burned in Spain since the beginning of the year, after a record in 2022 when more than 300,000 hectares were destroyed, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).
Experts say the greater frequency of heatwaves, which are also increasingly long and intense, is a consequence of climate change.
#FelizLunes. Puedes ver el video con la predicción oficial de #AEMET para hoy (y los próximos días) en https://t.co/GPHUPR8SOP pic.twitter.com/95ivnJEYka
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) August 7, 2023
🔴 #IUFPuertoReal, [ESTABILIZADO] Primer tuit del día para repasar la situación del incendio. Noche de intenso trabajo, realizando tareas de control y liquidacion sobre las zonas de intervención. En breve se celebra comité técnico de valoración de situación.#BuenosDías pic.twitter.com/s6aRB04r3g
— INFOCA (@Plan_INFOCA) August 7, 2023
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