Galician forest fires - update

The image speaks for itself

Many friends and customers have asked me how we have been affected by the fires that have been raging in Galicia for more than a week now. I thought I would write a little report, and include a few dramatic pictures.......

A day or two ago there were more than 120 separate fires still burning, and more than half of these were out of control. Fortunately only four people have died so far, but of course thousands of hectares of forest and scrubland have been destroyed, and it will take years for the region to recover. Only a small number of vineyards have been burnt (luckily none of ours have been touched), and this should have no significant effect on the harvest.

An already difficult situation is being compounded further by the weather - hot and very dry (the prerequisite of forest fires as one would imagine), but made much worse by strong gusting winds, that only serve to fan the flames and help them spread even more quickly.

The puzzling factor is that the police believe that perhaps 90% of the fires have been started deliberately, and, as at today's date, 27 people have been arrested - one woman actually carrying an oil lamp and matches. Of course some of these people are simply ill, but the vast majority are accused for wildly differing reasons. These include: land reclamation for farming or building, revenge against neighbours, drug smugglers attempting to distract the police from patrolling the coastline, and even ex-firemen who did not have their contracts renewed (the latter is a very long and complicated story). Anyway, these are a few of the theorectical reasons, but no doubt we will have to wait before we discover the real truth.

Many fires are difficult to access

A village is threatened

The aftermath