Spain allows the return of some evacuees from the fires while France fights a resurgence

This Tuesday, Spain lifted the orders of evacuation in several towns, while in France firefighters and volunteers fight to prevent a new outbreak of the flames, at critical hours to contain fires of historic proportions before a new heat wave.

Since last week, the Spanish Government has maintained a national emergency due to several fires in the Madrid region, in two neighboring provinces and in Castellón, in the east of the country. The Ávila fire, northwest of Madrid, is the worst in the country’s recent history.

In the town of Navas del Rey, west of Madrid and whose inhabitants were able to return to their homes, AFP journalists saw charred areas, as well as burned cars, with their tires and seats reduced to ash.

«The house has been saved. Everything else can be rebuilt, replanted, and the most important thing is that we and the whole family are alive,” said Fernando Bolaños, 68 years old.

“It has been an uncertainty that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” declared María Paz, 62 years old.

Ada López, vice mayor of Navas del Rey, stated that it is difficult to carry out an evaluation but estimates that about “50 houses have been burned and about 50 have been damaged, which are recoverable.”

The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, stated that Spain faces “a few critical hours” before an increase in temperatures, accompanied by wind and breezes that could fan the embers again.

In Pelayos de la Presa, about 55 km west of the capital, the hardest days of the “monster”, as the mayor calls them, were Thursdays and Fridays. However, smoke, confinements and the risk of reactivation persist.