Fires in Spain burn more in 3 months than in some full years

Madrid, Mar 31 (EFE).- Forest fires in Spain, which is currently tackling multiple blazes, have so far this year devastated more than 28,440 hectares, an area larger than the total that was burned during the whole of 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2018, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System.

On Friday afternoon, 28,444 hectares had been burnt in three months so far this year, more than three times the average during the first quarter in the period 2006-2022.

Spain lost about 310,000 hectares in 2022, the worst year for fires in the country this century, and the fifth worst since records began.

In the European Union as a whole, wildfires have destroyed some 73,700 hectares, with Spain accounting for 38.5% of fires across the continent, according to satellite estimates.

Among the most devastating fires so far this year in Spain are in Villanueva de Viver (Castellón), on the border with Teruel in the east, and in Baleira (in northwestern Lugo), with 4,495 and 1,018 hectares affected, respectively, according to satellite data.

Those figures will continue to grow in the coming days, as those two fires are still active, along with more than a hundred in the northern regions of Asturias and Cantabria. EFE

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