A fire, fueled by abnormally high temperatures, burned more than 500 ha of vegetation in eastern Spain. The fire, which broke out on Sunday in the Valencia region, was “still active” early Monday afternoon.
“Around 180 people were evacuated” in the municipalities of Parcent and Tárbena, explained the region’s prefect, Pilar Bernabé, on public television. Overall, in the country, 30 degrees were exceeded on Saturday in 65 stations of the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet), particularly in the North. According to Aemet, the frequency of heat episodes has tripled over the past ten years in Spain. in 2022, 300,000 ha were destroyed by more than500 fires in Spain, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). Last year, this figure fell significantly to around 91,000Ha. The fire was fanned by the wind and the abnormallyHigh temperatures recorded during the weekend in the area.