Smoke from wildfires in Portugal spreads 400 kilometers and covers Spanish skyscrapers
CCTV News Client News Thick smoke from a large wildfire in central Portugal spread to Madrid, the Spanish capital, 400 kilometers away on the 16th, covering several landmark skyscrapers in the city’s new business district. Residents of Madrid reported smelling a strong burnt smell.
According to Reuters, a fire broke out in Portugal’s Estrela National Park on the 6th, and the fire area has so far exceeded 17,000 hectares. Residents of several villages were evacuated. As of the 16th, more than 1,100 firefighters and 13 firefighting aircraft were still involved in the firefighting.
NASA satellite images show that the thick smoke spread eastward from the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, where Portugal is located, and floated over Madrid, and the high-rise buildings of the “four-building business district” were also wrapped in it. Local emergency services had to clarify to residents that there was no fire nearby.
The Valencia region in eastern Spain was also hit by wildfires. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed in the area, working day and night to put out the fire.
A study published last month in the British “Nature Geoscience” found that climate change has caused parts of the Iberian Peninsula to experience the worst drought in 1,200 years.
Data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows that since the beginning of this year, about 85,000 hectares of wildfires have burned in Portugal, accounting for nearly 1% of the country’s territory; the area of wildfires in Spain has exceeded 270,000 hectares, while the average in the past 15 years is 70,000 hectares .