Spain is battling 14 major fires in “unfavorable conditions”

Spain is battling 14 major fires in “unfavorable conditions”

Spain is facing 14 major wildfires and authorities warned on Friday that “unfavorable conditions” are making it more difficult to fight them.

Seven people have died in Spain this month as a result of wildfires.

The heat wave, which has lasted 12 days, and winds from the south have made the work of firefighters even more challenging in one of the most difficult summers for fires in the last 20 years, said Virginia Barcones, general director of emergency services.

“In the western part of the country, the situation is extremely worrying,” Barcones told RTVE.

In Galicia, several fires merged to form a larger blaze, forcing the closure of roads and rail services to the region. The fires in the province of Ourense in Galicia spread to the neighboring province of Zamora.

While many residents were evacuated, some stayed to defend their homes.

The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in the north and west of the country, as temperatures are expected to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius on the north coast.

“Today will be another very difficult day, with extreme risk of new fires,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on Twitter.

A fire near Molezuelas de la Carballeda in the Castile and Leon region, which is one of the largest in Spain’s history, had not advanced as of Thursday, said Angel Sanchez, head of the region’s forest fire service.

“We will continue to work to bring it under control,” he added.

Conditions are causing fires to spread so rapidly that firefighters could lose control in a short time.

Two people were arrested on the Costa da Morte in Galicia for causing fires after illegally burning copper cables to extract the metal and sell it, according to the Interior Ministry.

Fires this year have burned over 157.000 hectares, almost double the annual average since 2006, according to the European Union’s Forest Fire Information Service.