The fires have started
 

Sad to read this and so early in the year:.
https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/...hange-to-blame
It's also hard to believe that the holiday season hasn't even started and makes you wonder how much longer mass tourism can continue if it never rains.
I recently returned and have never seen it this dry in March and we usually see a few days with a bit of rain, but absolutely nothing.
Even Bilbao could hit 30C today, but luckily for them it will rain again and be back to Irish temps by Saturday.

Re: The fires have started
 

There has been one raging all weekend, I saw on the news. Its been so dry - it is not to with the heat though. In fact the majority of fires are caused by humans - some intentional, some negligence ( throwing cigarettes from car windows) some from forestry workers where sparks occur in heavy machinery. Its not the extreme heat that's the problem Its the lack of rain.

Re: The fires have started
 

I know and apparently a spark it was this time. Well maybe not at this time of the year, but heat is also a big problem and the hotter it gets the more water people want to use/the quicker it dries up, so it all plays a part.

Re: The fires have started
 

Fire today in Asturias and cause is already determined as intentional! It's the drought that provides the conditions - although it is warmer than usual this month the temperatures are not exceptionally hot only in the mid 20s where the fires start but the ground is parched.

Re: The fires have started
 

Thanks, just looked up
https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/03/3...ing-on-ground/
You are so used to the heat now that mid 20s is a cool day for you, for us that would be a scorcher;). Some days it was 18°C/19°C while we were over in Spain and for us a pleasant beach day, but some locals and non coastal people had their usual winter jackets on because the wind was too strong for them.

Re: The fires have started
 

Where I live locals basically live by certain traditions. At the moment we are in spring and next week is Semana Santa. This is the week of the processions. People will still have on coats and carry umbrellas as its famous for rain. Tradition also dictates that you don't change to shorts and sandals until the official day of summer which usually means the middle of June. My son's school doesn't allow shorts until the last week of school!!! It might seem strange to us Brits but remember Spanish find it wierd that we walk around British supermarkets in flip flops and shorts on Saturdays even in January!!!

Re: The fires have started
 

I know, well I would never wear flip flops anyway but then again it's not only the Brits or in my case Irish. Where we are in Girona province you see plenty of people from Andorra (only 3 hours drive) and they are always in shorts, same with other nationalities such as the Dutch or Germans and then Scandinavians in general. Saying that, we are not far from Lloret which is very international and easy-going. Many have the picture of a pure party town in summer, but it's actually certified as a sports tourism destination by the Government of Catalonia. There are around 60.000+ international athletes visiting every year and 400-500 sporting events so you'll always see people in shorts. There were quite a few American soccer teams walking around town and even those from Arizona had shorts on.

Re: The fires have started
 

As I say it's more a cultural tradition. For instance, the Spanish regard going to the notary in shorts as not the done thing and the same with work. My boss always reminds new employees who are often foreigners that shorts must not be worn at work even in the summer months.

Re: The fires have started
 

:focus:

My town hall has today sent out a WhatsApp message to say that agricultural burnings are prohibited. Also warning people to be diligent at all times. This does not normally occur so early in the year.

Rosemary

Re: The fires have started
 

Even within a country you have different cultural traditions and I don't know anybody who would go to the notary in shorts. I actually always found the dress code in the UK far more strict and worked in several countries.
It often has a lot to do with the manager, the sector you work in and I remember back in the UK that we had dress-down Fridays. Even there it was forbidden to wear shorts, t-shirts with any ironic slogans and of course football jerseys. I had the opposite in Germany and once applied for a position as Game Tester at Nintendo and was invited for an interview. The interviewer had green hair, ripped jeans, band t-shirt on and stared at me coming in my finest shirt and trousers. I knew I could forget the job and it was over once I entered the room:lol:. You are right Rosemary and off topic, but there's hardly anything happening in the forum these days.

Re: The fires have started
 

Given the risk of fires here it surprises me how careless Spaniards can be discarding lit cigarettes. I say this as a non smoker . You often see them just flick the lit butt away or out of a car window. You would think it would be ingrained in them to be careful but it doesn't seem that way . If this early dry spell continues there will be serious water issues along with fires this year. I noticed yesterday that the Campo land looks more like it does early June rather than March this year.

Re: The fires have started
 

Discarding cigarettes is a huge problem and unfortunately not just the Spaniards. I always drive past Toulouse into Spain and they have signs along the motorway warning people to not throw cigarettes out the window and every year I pass more fires seem to happen (Article from 2021 confirms this). Of course it's not just the French and plenty of other nationalities (truckers etc.). Littering is another problem and plenty admitted to throwing litter out the window.
https://www.thelocal.fr/20210802/why...eir-car-window
Throwing cigarette butts out the car window is a particularly pernicious practice. Earlier this month, a forest fire ravaged 850 hectares (2,100 acres) of woodland in the Aude département in the south of France. Local authorities said it was "unfortunately very likely it was a cigarette butt" that caused the fire, which began near the A61 motorway.

Re: The fires have started
 

Sorry I didn't meant to say it was solely Spanish carelessly discarding lit cigarette butts as you say other nationalities are also responsible for doing the same. It is more that. I am surprised that Spaniards can be so careless given they grow up knowing the inherent risk of fire. I

Re: The fires have started
 

I suppose there is still time for some big storms to improve the water situation . Mind I am currently at Algarrobo Costa and the local council are putting new sand at the beach, so they must think winter is behind them. If not one big storm could was away the new sand and it must cost quite a bit to replace.

Re: The fires have started
 

Couple of years ago as we went to bed my wife thought she could smell smoke. Stuck my head out of the door to see a wall of orange flame not many metres from our house. Fire brigade and guardian attended to put it out. It was that close to the house that I was standing on the edge of the pool throwing buckets of water on the flames. The cause, some b****** flicked a cigarette out of his window on the road below.

Re: The fires have started
 

You are right there and Spanish grow up knowing the fire risk. In Ireland people are really careless and because of our history with the rain, many are uneducated when it comes to fire risk. Unfortunately with global warming and more dry periods it will also get worse here and in recent years there was a large fire in Killarney. Some say it was deliberate and others say it was an accident. Ironically the view here is that if it was a camp fire, cigarette or farmer burning gorse, it's just an accident https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/...l-1151701.html

Re: The fires have started
 

I'm afraid it doesn't look like it. I was also looking at the weather patterns and seems like it might continue, I hope I'm wrong.
https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/...ear-of-drought

Re: The fires have started
 

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...058e092654.png
Not the best pic but the fire planes were leaving Valencia airport to tackle this last Friday. There were 4 of them, I guess more from Castellon airport too.

Re: The fires have started
 

The drought is even making headlines in Germany. The Swiss climate expert Dr. David Volken is basically saying we are already seeing apocalyptic scenes and it's one of the worst droughts since records began. Although in German, the pictures really show the problem.
https://www.bild.de/video/clip/news-...6972.bild.html

Re: The fires have started
 

Even more fires today- Asturias, Cantabrica and Castellón.

Re: The fires have started
 

We have lots of rain forecast over Easter

Re: The fires have started
 

Also on Google Maps now

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...bc5a0bce70.jpg

Re: The fires have started
 

The problem now is the winds that have reignited the fores from last week. Makes you think twice about living surrounded by greenery. There was even one in Guardamar last year and they are building stuff set back from coast on the hill which is where the fire was.

Re: The fires have started
 

That's the thing and I would never live at the edge of a forest now. We are surrounded by greenery, but are luckily in the urbanisation with two roads between that side and several houses around us. On the other side it's a bigger worry.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...fe80a82f75.jpg

Re: The fires have started
 

Catalonia has a fire risk map, it's also updated on Twitter. Most areas today are at level 2 from 0 to 3 which means e.g. barbeques are banned unless it's a certain type (three walls and a chimney).

We're already supposed to be saving water and there's a ban on watering parks and gardens unless but there's probably going to be more restrictions soon - lower water pressure or no supply during certain times of the day... in April.

Also there's NASA's fire map for an almost realtime view.

Re: The fires have started
 

Cheers for link. Just looked up and we are currently level 1 for Selva.

Re: The fires have started
 

Appears fires are also in Valencia region this weekend with one in Altea ( Alicante).

Re: The fires have started
 

https://www.thelocal.es/20230403/for...ns-and-rescues
Sunday saw a number of forest fires across the Valencia region, with some serious enough to warrant the evacuation of local residents and even, in some cases, the rescue of hikers from nearby hills.

Up to six fires were reported across the region on Sunday, with an orange alert declared for high temperatures, and the blazes affected the areas of Altea, a popular coastal tourist destination in Alicante province, Estivella, Barx, La Pobla de Vallbona, Llíria and Godelleta.

Re: The fires have started
 

Even the Semana Santa processions are not exempt - two men were injured yesterday evening in the town where I live when one of the tronos in the first procession of the week caught fire. We had been standing right by that spot watching the procession with some family members we had staying with us, and had left just seconds before when they lowered the trono for a rest stop.

Una vela incendia la Virgen del Rocío en la procesión de Vélez-Málaga: hay dos heridos por intentar sofocar el fuego con sus manos (20minutos.es)

Re: The fires have started
 

Looks like the candles set fire to the Virgin's robes and the fire was going to engulf the statue, before the cofradia members stepped in and seem to have put it out, before the fire could spread to the throne (made of wood).

Re: The fires have started
 

I don't doubt the climate change argument, nor do I doubt how many fires start due to accidents and carelessness, but you might be surprised at how many are started deliberately, especially here in the north.

Apart from the pyromaniacs there are many rural conflicts between ecologists, farmers and neighbours that lead to fires being started deliberately. In Asturias for example, the reintroduction of wolves in the north has lead to many farmers losing sheep, and so they have been known to burn down a forest to get rid of the wolves locally. In my own area, many fires are said to have started to create grazing areas for cattle. Eucalyptus trees are often a simple form of income in rural areas, where you sell the wood every eight or ten years to a company specialised in felling and resale of the wood. It's often heard around here that so and so burnt down his neighbours eucalyptus trees as revenge for some dispute.

In this fire season to date Cantabria has registered 34 fires that were started deliberately IN APRIL!!! On the morning of this report, four were started in different parts of the province in less than six hours. https://www.europapress.es/cantabria...408124057.html.

Re: The fires have started
 

The majority of fires in spain are intentional. They were talking about this last week - how they are seeking to prosecute individuals.

Re: The fires have started
 

Agreed. The often quoted figure is 4 in every 5!!

Re: The fires have started
 

I have heard that when it comes to laws they are looking into how accidentally or intentionally should be defined. In the past somebody might have started a campfire and it spread, which would have been classed as an accident. With the laws today the campfire is not allowed in the first place so would be intentional. Unfortunately the rain still hasn't arrived where it's needed most and looks like France is getting a load of it on Thursday.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...aa31825655.png