A large forest fire is spreading across southwestern Spain, Reuters reports, citing regional authorities in the country. The fire continues to grow near the town of Niebla in the Andalusia region.
The flames have so far destroyed more than 20,000 hectares, and firefighters have not been able to control it. Hot and windy weather is also fueling other outbreaks in the country.
The head of the regional emergency service, Antonio Sanz, said that extinguishing the fire was likely to last several days. About 600 firefighters are battling the blaze, and nearly 500 people have been evacuated from the area.
There are also fires in the provinces of Segovia and Castellón. In Segovia, 176 residents have been evacuated, and in the municipality of Tirig in Castellón, the fire has burned about 800 hectares and forced the evacuation of 900 people.
According to estimates from the European Forest Fire Information System, more than 244,000 hectares of land have burned in Spain since the beginning of the year and there have been about 400 fires. This marks a six-fold increase compared to the same period last year.