Saturday. 12.10.2024

Fire brigades and volunteers have managed to contain several forest fires in northern Spain.

In the autonomous community of Navarre, a fire near the village of Gallipienzo was brought under control on Monday night, Diario de Navarra newspaper reported.

However, there were still several forest fires in the region and the inhabitants of eight villages had to be brought to safety as precaution.

Since Friday, about 3,300 hectares of forest have burned in the region.

There is hope that the situation will ease soon, as temperatures are cooling down after a heatwave with temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius.

Risk 'extremely high'

However, the official forest fire season still lies ahead, in July and August.

The risk of wildfires remains "extremely high" in view of the dry weather in May and June, said Pedro Oria of the Navarra Meteorological Institute.

Heatwaves are starting earlier and becoming more frequent and more intense in Spain, a development that experts attribute to climate change.

Fire brigades bring wildfires in northern Spain under control