Spanish authorities lifted lockdown measures for thousands of villagers in the northeastern Catalonia region on Wednesday as firefighters began taming a forest fire raging for a third day.
The blaze that started on Monday has burned more than 3,300 hectares (8,154 acres) in Tarragona province, with the protected Els Ports natural park making up around one-third of the affected area, Catalan countryside rangers said.
A stay-at-home order for around 18,000 people decreed on Tuesday was lifted except for the municipality of Pauls, where residents were allowed to go outside but not leave the locality, the Catalan civil protection authority announced on X.
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Catalonia’s fire service said it had “stabilised” the blaze but continued to work with ground units, helicopters and aeroplanes on several hotspots, including cliffs and areas that are hard to access.
Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of the extreme heat that fuels forest fires.
Spain recently sweltered through a heatwave that parched the land, while national weather agency AEMET said last month that it was the country’s hottest June on record.
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.
