By Nacho Doce and Guillermo Martinez
ASTORGA, Spain (Reuters) -Spain’s worst wave of wildfires in at least two decades spread to the southern slopes of the Picos de Europa mountain range on Monday and prompted authorities to close part of the popular Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.
“This is a fire situation we haven’t experienced in 20 years,” Defence Minister Margarita Robles told Cadena SER radio.
“The fires have special characteristics as a result of climate change and this huge heat wave,” spanning 16 days, she added, referring to one of the longest heatwaves in the past 50 years that sent temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) over the weekend.
It is expected to start easing on Monday evening or Tuesday.
Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades, with Spain and neighboring Portugal among the hardest-hit countries.
So far this year, an estimated 344,400 hectares (851,031 acres) have been burned in Spain, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) – the largest area on its records that go back to 2006 and more than four times the 2006-2024 average.
Robles said thick smoke was hampering the work of waterbombing aircraft.
The Spanish army has deployed 1,900 troops to help firefighters.
In the past week alone, about 20 wildfires have devastated thousands of hectares in the regions of Galicia and Castile and Leon, forcing authorities to cut rail services in the area, as well as a 50-km (31-mile) stretch of the “Camino de Santiago”, an ancient pilgrimage path trodden by thousands in the summer.
It links France and the city of Santiago de Compostela on the western tip of Spain, where the remains of the apostle St James are said to be buried.
‘TERRIBLE THING’
Patrice Lepettre, a 75-year-old pilgrim in Astorga, told Reuters the inconvenience for hikers was temporary and could not be compared to the locals’ plight.
“It’s a terrible thing for the population. The pilgrims can go back home and come another year to finish the Camino, but for the people who live here, it’s a terrible thing,” he said.
A firefighter died when his truck crashed near the village of Espinoso de Compludo, raising the death toll to four.
Leaders of regions run by the main opposition People’s Party (PP) have criticised the central government for poor planning and asked for more resources to fight the wildfires.
Robles said all the means available had been deployed.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday urged a “State Pact” on climate change with all main political forces, which was dismissed as a “diversion” by PP spokesperson Ester Munoz on Monday.
The Interior ministry said 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June.
In Portugal, wildfires have burnt about 216,200 hectares so far this year, according to EFFIS – more than four times the 2006-2024 average for this period – and two people have died.
(Writing by Inti Landauro; editing by Andrei Khalip and Bernadette Baum)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.