Some 2.000 people have fled their homes following wildfires that have started in the southern Spain region of Andalucía.

The Andalusian regional forest fire authority, Infoca, said conditions had improved overnight adding that the initial efforts were focused on the fire’s east flank.

Around 1.000 firefighters, backed up by around 50 aircraft, were deployed to extinguish the blaze, which has burned more than 150.000 acres of forest since it erupted on Wednesday.

According to Juan Sánchez, head of the Infoca regional response centre,”Right now, we’re probably dealing with the most complicated fire that Spanish firefighting services have faced in recent years,”

Six other towns and villages were evacuated on Sunday with huge plumes of smoke visible within kilometres.

Hot and dry temperatures, combined with high winds, has produced a perfect storm that transformed the outburst into a “hungry monster” said Alejandro García, Infoca’s deputy operations officer.

A firefighter died on Thursday as he tried to put out the blaze.

The regional environmental chief, Carmen Crespo, said the blaze apparently was planned beginning on Sep. 10 and that investigators were working on clearing up more details.

2009 Mediterranean wildfires

The 2009 Mediterranean wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out across France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey in July 2009. Strong winds spread the fire during a hot, (wikipedia)

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Estepona

Estepona is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. (wikipedia)


Southern Europe

Southern Europe is the southern subregion of Europe. Definitions of Southern Europe, also known as Mediterranean Europe, include countries and regions such as: Albania, Andorra, (wikipedia)


Central Europe

Central Europe is the central region of Europe. Central Europe includes contiguous territories that are sometimes also considered parts of Western Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. (wikipedia)