Forest fires in Valencia and floods in Catalonia

A forest fire has continued to spread in the Valencia region of Spain. However, a little further north there were floods due to heavy rain. Around 1,000 people had to be evacuated due to the flames in the municipality of Gátova. Buses have been provided for people without their own vehicle, the Civil Protection Minister of the Valencian Community, Juan Carlos Valderrama, told journalists.

The flames, which are said to have been triggered by lightning late on Thursday evening, are not yet under control. By Friday evening, more than 400 hectares had burned.

Gátova normally has around 450 inhabitants, but the number doubles in the summer months due to holidaymakers, reported the Spanish state TV station RTVE. Television images showed that the flames had already come close to built-up areas. On Friday there was thick smoke over the small town.

The fire broke out a few kilometers further south in the municipality of Segorbe and then spread in the Sierra Calderona Natural Park towards Gátova. The Military Crisis Unit UME, numerous fire brigades as well as fire-fighting helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft were involved in the difficult fire-fighting work in the impassable terrain.

Drought and record temperatures make vegetation extremely flammable. According to data from the European Commission's Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), more than 297,000 hectares have already burned in 425 forest fires in Spain this year, an area larger than Saarland.

Meanwhile, further north on the Costa Dorada (Gold Coast), there were three injured, one of them seriously, when a wall collapsed due to heavy rain in the town of Roda de Berà near Tarragona, the fire department announced.

In the Catalan region, up to 200 liters of rain per square meter were measured in just a few hours early on Saturday morning. Around 300 people were brought to safety from a campsite in Roda de Berà and around 100 from a discotheque in Vendrell. Many roads in the region were under water and train traffic was also affected, as the newspaper “La Vanguardia” reported.