More than 2,000 people evacuated from Spanish resort of Tarifa over advancing wildfire
Authorities on Monday began the preventive evacuation of several homes in the resort town of Tarifa in the Cádiz region of southern Spain after forest fires advanced towards the region, domestic media reported.
According to local reports, some 2,000 people, including beachgoers, vacation resort visitors and locals living near Playa de Atlanterra and Playa de Bolonia, were among those impacted.
Access to the southern Spanish resort town has been limited to emergency services, and around 25 kilometres northwest of Tarifa's city centre, the interior minister of the Andalusia region, Antonio Sanz, said on Monday.
The evacuations come as Spain faces one of its worst summers in recent history, with massive wildfires that have engulfed tens of thousands of hectares and threatened UNESCO World Heritage sites.
More wildfires than ever
The region surrounding Tarifa in the province of Cádiz was already impacted by a forest fire less than a week ago. Around 1,500 visitors and locals were evacuated at that time, along with a number of hotels, towns, and a campsite in the La Peña area.
On Monday, the Guardia Civil asked those evacuated by the fire to leave the area by the beach to avoid the collapse of the road.
In addition, the Montaña de Los Alemanes and those located at the foot of the Sierra de la Plata have been evacuated as a precautionary measure.
For the moment, due to the advance of the fire and the dense smoke covering the area, some of the residents of the region have been evacuated, as well as the workers and guests of two well-known hotels in the area: Cortijo and the Meliá Zahara.
For days, emergency services have been trying to tackle other fires in the area, both by land and by air. More than 100 troops are currently deployed in the area, including four firefighting reinforcement brigades.
The latest wildfire comes after the local authorities declared two days ago that the fire that started on 5 August had been extinguished.
Spanish media reported the blaze affected an area of some 283 hectares and forced the preventive eviction of some 1,500 people.
Around 39,155 hectares have been burned between 1 January and 3 August this year in Spain, 9% greater than the previous year's total for the same time, according to Spain's Ecological Transition Ministry.
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