Little by little, normality seems to be returning to Los Gallardos Leisure, a campsite and resort located in that town, which last Thursday had to be evacuated very quickly due to a fire that had broken out a few hours earlier and literally threatened to burn down the complex. The flames were very close and visible from any point. Fortunately, it was able to reopen on Sunday without any damage to report.
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There are two areas of the campsite that show that routine has returned to the place. One is its swimming pool, which after being closed for two days by order of the Civil Guard, like the rest of the facility, hosted a birthday party on Sunday afternoon, with the little ones enjoying a dip while the parents couldn’t stop talking about what had happened.
The other facility where the hustle and bustle of people was also constant since last Sunday was the supermarket, since although it is located within Los Gallardos Leisure, many of the closest neighbors come to it to buy products, as “it also opens on Sundays.” That day, many of those who passed by bought supplies before returning to their homes after several days evacuated and wondering what had happened to them.
In the supermarket parking lot was Francisco, who, getting on his motorcycle with two bags full of food, recalled to La Vanguardia what had happened. “We were evacuated from Lubrín and ended up in a hotel in Mojácar,” he said. “We are very eager to return home,” he assured.
For her part, Antonieta is a resident of El Pinar de Bédar, one of the epicenters of the fire whose residents were among the first to be evacuated due to the advance of the flames. “Around 6:00 p.m. the Civil Guard warned us and asked us to leave. I forgot documents and everything,” she recounted. “There are always fires in this area, but I had never seen anything like this. It was horrible, the fire was very high and very black, and no one told us it had entered until it was very close,” she lamented. Fortunately, the woman, who has a house in Garrucha where she slept those three nights until the fire was confirmed to be stabilized, explained that hers and the nearest homes “are fine.”
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But without a doubt, the most striking testimony is that of Paco, the campsite receptionist who spoke to this newspaper to recall what happened. A resident of the area for 25 years, this employee explained that “the fire advanced very quickly, we started to see it from afar and in a short time it was very close.” “Finally, the Civil Guard arrived and told us we had to leave,” he pointed out.
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According to his testimony, about 400 people were in the complex at the time of the evacuation, the vast majority of British origin, and he acknowledged that his boss and he went door to door to check that no one was left behind. “There were people with reduced mobility, we had to call an ambulance… And the police also checked that everyone had left,” he said.
What Paco did regret is that, once evacuated, there was a lack of information. “People left without taking their things and didn’t know where to go. They asked us and we didn’t know either,” he admitted: “Finally, some went to friends’ and family’s houses, and others to the Los Gallardos cultural center.” The latter was one of the first points set up to accommodate the first people affected by the fire during Thursday night and Friday early morning.
However, particularly for Paco, the uncertainty did not end once he was able to confirm that all the campsite residents were safe. He explained that he lives in Vera but has a farmhouse just a few kilometers from Los Gallardos Leisure that was also threatened by the fire. “We stayed there for a few hours and finally left because it was impossible to breathe,” he assured. “With my son, we tried to move the vehicles we have so they wouldn’t burn, but we left thinking we had lost everything,” he admitted. This worker estimates that the flames stopped “half a kilometer” from his property, which was not affected.
What Paco did highlight, once the campsite was able to reopen after having to also cancel all reservations for the weekend, is the spirit of solidarity of the people of Almería, as so many others have done during “this hell.” “There has been a lot of solidarity between English and Spanish people, people kept calling to offer their help and the Facebook groups were also very active,” he assured. “It does leave me with the feeling that you are not safe anywhere,” he concluded.
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