A dramatic forest fire near a beach resort in southern Spain has forced the evacuation of tourists and locals.
Multiple aircraft have been roped in to tackle the inferno, which took hold in Cadiz in Andalusia on Tuesday afternoon.
Specifically, the flames are spreading in the hills of Torre de la Peña, behind the hugely popular resort of Tarifa.
According to the Andalucia firefighter service INFOCA, there are gusts of 20-25km/hr that are favouring the fire’s spread.
The fire is snaking very close to the N-340 highway and the Estrecho Natural Park – the former of which has been partially closed between Las Piñas and Pedro Valiente.
Meanwhile, all bars, restaurants or hotels have been evacuated between La Peña and Casas de Porros, reports local newspaper Europa Sur.
According to the local police, the fire started in a motorhome at the Torre la Peña campsite, which also had to be evacuated.
The flames then blew westward, away from the campsite, and spread rapidly through a hilly and grassland area where homes and tourist establishments are scattered – including the Wawa Hotel, which is reported to have been affected by the fire.
Multiple aircraft have been roped in to tackle the inferno, which took hold in Cadiz in Andalusia on Tuesday afternoon
The flames are spreading in the hills of Torre de la Peña, behind the hugely popular resort of Tarifa
Several beach bars and ‘chiringuitos’ have also been evacuated due to the large amounts of ash being carried down to the shore.
The blaze was first reported at around 4pm on Tuesday.
The current firefighting operation involves five helicopters, two water-carrying planes, a coordination plane, five forest fire ground crews and more.
Tarifa is often branded a ‘surfer’s paradise’ due to its extremely wide beaches and tall waves.
It comes just days after blazes erupted in Portugal, Greece, and Spain, while tornadoes struck tourist hotspots in parts of Spain and Switzerland.
Thousands of firefighters battled a dozen wildfires raging in northern Portugal and central Spain into Wednesday, in the largest wave of blazes in the Iberian Peninsula so far this year following weeks of summer heat.
The largest wildfire burned in the wooded, mountainous Arouca area – some 300 km (185 miles) north of Lisbon – since Monday, leading to the closure of the scenic trails of Passadicos do Paiva, a popular tourist attraction.
Some 800 firefighters and seven waterbombing aircraft tackled the blaze.
‘There was a huge effort during the night, so now we have a somewhat calmer situation,’ Civil Protection Commander Helder Silva told reporters, cautioning that shifting strong winds and a difficult terrain meant their work was far from over.
According to the Andalucia firefighter service INFOCA, there are gusts of 20-25km/hr that are favouring the fire’s spread
The blaze was first reported at around 4pm on Tuesday
According to the local police, the fire started in a motorhome at the Torre la Peña campsite, which also had to be evacuated
‘It’s a very large wildfire in areas with difficult access,’ he said.
Further north, a blaze raged from Saturday in the Peneda-Geres national park near the Spanish border, enveloping nearby villages in thick smoke that led to orders for residents to stay at home.
Portuguese firefighters managed to control two large fires that started on Monday in the central areas of Penamacor and Nisa.
Authorities said the Penamacor blaze had destroyed 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forest.
