MADRID (AP) – Officials said some 9,000 hectares of wooded hill land in northwestern Spain have been burnt by a wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than 650 people from eight villages on Friday as much of Europe suffered an early heatwave.
Officials said the blaze in the Sierra de Culebra mountain range in the province of Zamora started on Wednesday during a dry electric storm.
Elsewhere in Spain, smaller wildfires were also raging in central Toledo province and in the northeastern provinces of Zaragoza and Lleida.
Mayor of Lladurs town Daniel Rovira described the Lleida fire that has burned some 2,000 hectares as “brutal”. He warned that it could spread over 50,000 hectares if it was not brought under control soon.
Most of Spain was at high risk of forest fire on Friday as the country endured a sixth day of a unusually early heatwave.
Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius have been recorded in many cities and other areas throughout the week.
