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Spain mulls options as wildfires gain in size, intensity
Last year, Spain suffered nearly 500 wildfires that devastated huge swathes of land, with experts warning that such California-style blazes were likely to increase.
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Trunks of burnt trees are piled next to a forest that was burnt eight months when the area was ravaged by a huge wildfire in Sierra de la Culebra, in Tabara, Zamora province, on March 15, 2022. (AFP/Cesar Manso)
W
alking through the charred remains of the forested hillsides of Sierra de la Culebra that were devastated by Spain's worst wildfire last year, Pablo Martin Pinto is blunt.
"We are moving from the era of big forest fires to mega forest fires in Spain," says this wildfire expert from Valladolid University, warning that such vast blazes were "here to stay".
Last year, Spain suffered nearly 500 wildfires that devastated huge swathes of land, with experts warning that such California-style blazes were likely to increase.
Although spring has only just begun, some 700 firefighters have been battling Spain's first major forest fire which has so far burnt through some 4,000 hectares of land, forcing 1,500 people to flee.
Firefighters said such a blaze was more typical of summer than spring.
"We have to learn as much as we can from what has happened," said Martin Pinto.
If Spain experiences "another summer in which temperatures don't fall below 35C for 20 days and it doesn't rain for four months, the vegetation will be liable to go up in flames" with the first lightning bolt, he warned.
