Italy and Greece are the countries most affected in terms of burnt area, due to the fires that affect both shores of the Mediterranean, both in southern Europe and in northern Africa.
In Italy, the worst is still happening in Sicily, where four charred people have died this week and 700 hectares of forest have already burned in 338 fires that have caused damage of 60 million euros, according to the authorities, to which another 200 million are added. , according to the agricultural sector, due to the heat wave with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees.
Some thirty fires were still active yesterday, although the situation has improved in the province of Messina, except for a few outbreaks. In Palermo, the fires in the Altofonte area also continued, while the one in Valle del Fico, the firefighters assure that it is under control. The flames did not spare the archaeological park of Segesta, whose surroundings were burned, although they did not damage the Greek temple and the theater in an incident that would have been caused, according to the regional government.
Greece is the other most affected southern European country, with large fires throughout the territory and new outbreaks in the interior of the country, while the flames on the islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Euboea continued yesterday out of control. The front that most concerned the authorities is the one that began on Wednesday five kilometers west of Volos, in central Greece, as it threatens the industrial zone of this city of 150,000 inhabitants; During the early hours of Thursday, at least nine coastal towns were evacuated.
According to the Greek Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vasilis Kikilias, 594 fires have affected Greece in the last two weeks and, in addition to damage to property and the environment, have so far left five fatalities.
In Rhodes, some 16,000 hectares of forest have already burned and several houses have been burned, while 19,000 people – including 7,000 tourists – had to be evacuated. In Euboea, a large front was reignited around the coastal town of Caristos early yesterday, while in Corfu another large forest fire continued yesterday out of control.
Spain is also facing several fires this July although they have not reached the devastating levels of last year. One of the last to be extinguished in the Peninsula was, yesterday morning, the one in Santa Colomba de Curueño (León), while in the Canary Islands the one declared on Tuesday at the Gran Canaria summit has been stabilized. On the other hand, the firefighting teams were working against the reactivation of the fire that broke out on the island of La Palma on July 15 and that was burning again in the Caldera de Taburiente national park.
In North Africa, the Algerian authorities confirmed control of all the fires that particularly affected the Kabylia region and which left 34 dead and more than 300 injured.
On the other hand, the Spanish military emergency unit (UME), which participated in extinguishing the flames in the Tunisian province of Tabarka, yesterday declared the last active focus in Tunisia under control. Since Monday, the country of the Maghreb registered 14 outbreaks in eight regions, with one fatality, with the Malloula forest being the area hardest hit due to its location: facing the sea in an area exposed to strong winds and high temperatures, that reached over 50 degrees.
