Published: Just now
Forest fires in Spain are spreading more and more.
Swede Josef Nitzler sees the fire from his balcony in Mijas but has not yet been evacuated.
– It looked better for a while. But now it looks too damn good, he says.
Several forest fires are currently raging in Spain. On Saturday, the rescue services faced 35 fires. Two stabilized, 14 controlled and 19 active – which is five more than last Friday.
A disturbing fire started in the municipality of Mijas at lunchtime last Friday, writes El País.
The Swede Josef Nitzler, 33, has been living permanently in Mijas Golf for two years now, together with his girlfriend and dog. Just a few miles away from their home, they could see when the fire started on the other side of the mountain.
– We went out around 12, 13 o’clock. Then we saw our mountain, it was smoke that was white black and you saw red. It looked really bad.
Several thousand have been forced to flee their homes
To date, more than 3,000 people have had to evacuate their homes in the city of Malaga, where Mijas is located.
– It’s a shame about those who live on the other side of the mountain. The houses are on fire and they have to let all the animals out. For them, it’s awful.
Josef and his girlfriend have been able to follow the ongoing rescue work.
– They run with helicopters and planes, we saw maybe 70-80 people throwing water and red powder, to put out the fire.
Earlier on Saturday morning, the fire seemed to have subsided, but now it should have picked up speed again and started to spread.
– They managed to get better for a while but now it looks too damn. There are more and bigger clouds of smoke again.
Increasingly common with forest fires
This summer’s heat wave is causing more and more fires in the country, which Josef has noticed since he moved to Spain about four years ago.
– When we moved here, there was a small fire but now there have been several nearby. I think it’s gotten worse.
This is not the first time Joseph has experienced these fires and the previous fire, a week ago, was much closer. Then it got so hot that they had to close all the windows.
– We saw the fire away by the hill outside our house. Then it was strange to go to bed, because then we felt the heat and the smell of smoke.
At the moment, there is no talk of evacuation in Joseph’s area. From their balcony, they see if the fire is approaching, which alleviates the anxiety.
– The fire spills over a little on our side. It can of course spread if the wind turns. But I do not think there will be any danger for us, but you never know.