Around 1,000 people have been evacuated due to a forest fire in eastern Spain, DPA reported.
Buses have been provided for people who do not have their own vehicles, Juan Carlos Valderrama, the Minister of Civil Protection for the autonomous community of Valencia, told journalists today.
The fire around the village of Gatova, near Valencia, is believed to have been started by lightning on Thursday evening. The fire is still not under control. According to data up to last night, more than 400 hectares of land have been burned.
The population of Gatova usually numbers around 450 people, but during the summer months it doubles due to holidaymakers, Spanish state television reported. Television footage showed that the flames had already approached populated areas.
The Military Emergency Unit and a large number of fire crews, as well as helicopters and firefighting planes, were mobilized to provide assistance in the difficult-to-reach terrain.
The drought and record temperatures - which are also part of the consequences of climate change - make the vegetation extremely "flammable".
According to the European Commission's Forest Fire Information System, more than 297,000 hectares have burned in Spain this year in 425 forest fires.
Meanwhile, to the north, in the Costa Daurada region of the autonomous region of Catalonia, three people were injured, one seriously, when a wall collapsed in the town of Roda de Bera near Tarragona due to heavy rain, according to the fire service.
Up to 200 liters of rain per square meter were recorded in the area this morning "in just a few hours".