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Spain faces two crucial days to bring raging wildfires under control before weather conditions worsen, authorities said on Monday, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on his citizens to “exercise extreme caution” ahead of a new heatwave.
Wildfires that broke out in forests around the Spanish capital at the height of the summer holidays have forced some 60,000 people to flee their homes, often with just minutes’ notice, leaving pets and medicine behind.
“You run to save what you can and then you turn to defend” against the fire, said Karim Benali, 39, a volunteer who spoke to AFP on a road near Navaluenga, west of Madrid.
“There were some 48 homes here; they burned,” he added, surrounded by charred earth and trees blanketed with a persistent smell of smoke.
