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July 8, 2025

Thousands told to stay home as Spain forest fire rages

Smoke billows from a forest fire near Pauls, in northeastern Spain.
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Smoke billows from a forest fire near Pauls, in northeastern Spain.

Hundreds of Spanish firefighters on Tuesday battled a forest fire stoked by fierce winds that had burned more than 3,000 hectares, with authorities ordering 18,000 residents to stay at home.

More than 450 firefighters backed by helicopters and planes were deployed across a hilly 30-kilometer (19-mile) front in the northeastern province of Tarragona, the Catalonia region's fire service said.

The blaze had devoured an estimated 3,137 hectares (7,751 acres), with the protected Els Ports natural park representing about one-third of the total, according to Catalan rangers.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw a helicopter swoop over burning vegetation and a house to drop water as gray smoke billowed from the green hills.

The blaze had gutted an isolated hillside home, which stood surrounded by scorched trees, its roof collapsed.

Firefighters said they were "cautiously optimistic" as they worked to stabilize the blaze and prevent it spreading further into the park.

"The changing wind patterns in the area will determine the fire's progression," the service added in a statement.

The could "begin a stabilization phase in the final hours of the day", said the leader of Catalonia's regional authority, Salvador Illa.

A firefighting helicopter drops water on a forest fire.
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A firefighting helicopter drops water on a forest fire.

Catalonia's civil protection authority urged residents to shut their doors and windows and stay home, saying around 18,000 people were affected.

Overnight gusts of up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour had thwarted efforts to extinguish the fire, prompting reinforcements from the Spanish army's emergencies unit.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of the extreme heat that fuels forest fires.

Spain has in recent days sweltered through a that parched the land and heightened the risk of forest fires.

National weather agency AEMET said last month was Spain's hottest June on record and that the frequency of extreme heat had tripled in the past 10 years.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, around 500 fires destroyed 300,000 hectares in Spain in 2022, a record for the continent.

Around 21,000 hectares have burned so far this year.

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A forest fire in northeastern Spain has burned over 3,000 hectares, including part of the Els Ports natural park, prompting authorities to order 18,000 residents to stay home. Strong winds and recent heat waves have complicated containment efforts. Spain experienced its hottest June on record, with climate change contributing to increased fire risk and severity.

This summary was automatically generated using LLM.