As wildfires swept through the countryside west of Madrid, livestock farmer Carmelo Ramírez loaded his truck with fodder and drove into the fire zone, determined to prevent cattle left behind by the flames from starving.
One of his business associates had called him in tears after flames swept through his farm on Saturday near Navas del Rey, a small town of around 3,500 people about 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Madrid.
"They had lost the food, the fodder, the feed, the machinery and many animals," Ramírez, president of the Union of Farmers and Livestock Owners of the Madrid Region (Ugama), told AFP.
His response was immediate.
"I said: 'Come on, I'm taking the truck there. Let it be whatever God wants, but the animals must not die of hunger'," he said.
