An uncontrolled forest fire broke out in the town of Mentrida in the Castile-La Mancha region, 50 kilometres from Madrid. As a result, the Spanish capital was enveloped in a huge cloud of smoke. Authorities urged people to stay indoors and close their windows, Spanish media reported on Friday.
The Civil Guard evacuated dozens of residents from the danger zone.
The fire started at around 3 p.m. local time. By evening, it had spread over an area of 3,000 hectares. Firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground and from the air.
Earlier, meteorologists reported that June this year was the hottest in Spain’s history. In the town of El Granado, temperatures reached 46 degrees. The heat has claimed many lives. Over the past two months, more than 1,100 people have died. During the same period last year, ten times fewer deaths were recorded.
Scientists say that anthropogenic climate change is leading to an increase in the intensity, duration and frequency of extreme heat, which leads to forest fires.
According to the national meteorological agency AEMET, heat warnings were issued in several regions of Spain this week: on Thursday, the temperature reached 39 degrees Celsius in Mentrida.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System, in 2022, around 500 fires destroyed 300,000 hectares of vegetation in Spain, a record for the continent. This year, more than 25,000 hectares of forest have been burned.
