A fire, fueled by abnormally high temperatures, burned more than 500 ha of vegetation in eastern Spain and led to the evacuation of 180 people, authorities said on Monday.
This fire, which broke out on Sunday in Tárbena in the Valencia region, was “still active” early Monday afternoon after a “complicated” night for firefighters, regional emergency services indicated in a message on social network
According to them, “a little more than 500 ha” were burned. “Around 180 people were evacuated” in the municipalities of Parcent and Tárbena, explained the region’s prefect, Pilar Bernabé, on public television.
More than 30 degrees Saturday
This fire was fanned by the wind and the abnormally high temperatures recorded during the weekend in the area, where the thermometer approached 30 degrees.
Overall, in the country, 30 degrees were exceeded on Saturday in 65 stations of the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet), particularly in the North where temperatures are generally lower. 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 than 500 fires in the country, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). Last year, this figure fell significantly to around 91,000 ha.