Sociedad

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, went to the Advanced Command Center in Cenicientos, which coordinates all efforts and personnel in the fight against the fires devastating central Spain, just two hours before it had to be evacuated due to the proximity of the flames. Sánchez, who thanked everyone involved for their efforts in the extinction work, stressed that although “complex hours” are ahead, the weekend represents “a window of opportunity to control the fire” and thus “save lives”.

New evacuations due to fire in the province of Ávila. According to the Government delegate in Castilla y León, Nicanor Sen, the inhabitants of seven other towns in Ávila have had to leave with just a bag containing their papers and some clothes. These are Piedralaves, La Adrada, Casillas, Casavieja, Sotillo de La Adrada, Santa María del Tietar, and Navahondilla. The population has received an ES-Alert message on mobile phones located in the affected areas. Throughout Saturday morning, new towns have been evacuated, and even the command post in Cenicientos has had to be evacuated and will be moved to Navalcarnero. In the Community of Madrid, the number of evacuees is already around 40,000.

The fire has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes in the western mountains of Madrid and the Ávila valleys of Tiétar and Iruelas (about 90,000 between evacuated and confined). The vast majority have gone to their primary residences or to relatives’ homes, but many have been housed in more than a dozen sports centers distributed throughout the region (except in Madrid city, which does not house anyone).

The Government takes control of Madrid due to the advance of a huge fire (the two fronts, that of Villa del Prado and that of San Martín de Valdeiglesias, joined forces at noon) that threatens the lives of the numerous population living in the western mountains of this region.

The Civil Guard arrested one person this Friday and is investigating another as the perpetrators of the Burgohondo forest fire (Ávila). The fire has already burned more than 9,000 hectares, and its origin is a serious imprudence due to the use of heavy machinery in this area where its use was totally prohibited.

The King participated this Friday, by videoconference, in the meeting of the State Coordination and Management Committee (CECOD) of the State Emergency Plan. From the operations center of the General Command of the Balearic Islands, the head of State, who this morning began his official stay in Palma with audiences with the Balearic authorities, is following from Marivent the evolution of the fires unleashed in the Community of Madrid, and in areas of Castilla-León and Castilla-La Mancha, which have forced more than 20.000 people to evacuate and another 25.000 to be confined.

The Government takes control of Madrid due to the advance of a huge fire (the two fronts, that of Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias, have joined forces this midday) which threatens the lives of the numerous population living in the western mountains of this region.

Spain has requested this Friday the activation of the European response mechanism, asking for 4 fixed-wing aerial firefighting assets, Cadena Ser has reported and La Vanguardia has been able to confirm. Greece has accepted the request, offering two Canadair CL-415 aircraft, and a preparatory meeting for the deployment is scheduled for the morning.

The simultaneity of fires in the vicinity of Madrid complicates extinction efforts, with four active fires close to each other and the added difficulty of being very close to each other and in three different autonomous communities.

The simultaneity of fires in the vicinity of Madrid complicates extinction efforts, with four active fires close to each other and the added difficulty of being very close to each other and in three different autonomous communities.