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Thirteen wildfires broke out across Spain over the weekend, burning hundreds of hectares and forcing evacuations in several areas. While Galicia and Catalonia have seen the worst of it, with hundreds of hectares lost between them, crews in Murcia and Andalucía have also been working hard to bring blazes under control.

 

In Murcia, firefighters from the Forest Fire Prevention and Extinction Plan have been tackling a fire that broke out in the Las Terreras area, in the municipality of Lorca. A helicopter from the General Directorate of Emergencies was sent to the scene along with a heliborne brigade, a Rapid Intervention Brigade and a forestry brigade from the Forest Fire Investigation Unit. Environmental agents from the General Directorate of Natural Heritage and Climate Action, Civil Protection personnel, firefighters from the Fire and Rescue Consortium, the Local Police and Civil Protection from Lorca have all been involved in the response.

 

Andalucía has had to deal with three separate fires this weekend. One is burning at the firing range used by the Guzmán el Bueno X Brigade in Cerro Muriano, in the municipality of Obejo, Córdoba. According to Infoca, the Andalucían Forest Fire Prevention and Extinction Service, the fire is proving tricky to tackle because its location within the firing range means crews can't go in on the ground. The perimeter is being kept under close watch in case that changes, with aerial resources already deployed and two fire engines, a team of forest firefighters and an operations technician on site.

 

It's worth noting the same firing range saw a fire back in July 2024 that burned almost 600 hectares.

 

In Málaga, firefighters managed to stabilise a forest fire that broke out in Alpandeire, with a medium-sized helicopter, two Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades, five forest firefighting teams, two environmental agents and two fire engines all called in to help.

 

Meanwhile in Huelva, crews extinguished a fire in the El Moralejo area of Almonte on Sunday morning, a job that required a heavy helicopter and two water bombers.

 

Elsewhere, Galicia remains the worst affected region. A fire in Padrón, A Coruña, has burned 350 hectares so far, the most of any blaze this weekend, with more than 100 firefighters on the ground after 10 homes were evacuated on Saturday. The Xunta de Galicia has kept its Level 2 Emergency in place as a precaution, even though the situation has improved since Saturday.

 

A second fire in Boborás, Ourense, has burned 200 hectares and also triggered a Level 2 emergency, with the local mayor suggesting it may have been started by lightning.

 

Catalonia has had three separate fires to deal with. One in Cervià de Les Garrigues, Lleida, burned 33 hectares and led to eight residents being evacuated, while an ES-Alert was sent telling people nearby to stay indoors. Investigators believe it may have started from sparks given off by an angle grinder being used for agricultural work.

 

Two further fires in Sanaüja and Ponts have both been brought under control, having burned around 48 and 6.5 hectares respectively.

 

Firefighters in Asturias also continued working on a fire near Grado that's burned an estimated 65 hectares, while two more fires are being tackled in Cáceres, one in Pozuelo de Zarzón and another in Robledillo de Gata, the latter triggered by a lightning strike and prompting a Level 1 emergency response.

 

A separate fire in Hoz y Costean, Huesca, has affected around 30 hectares and is being fought with the help of multiple helicopters and ground crews.

 

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