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WILDFIRE

Wildfire rages in Spain’s Alicante as temperatures rise

A forest fire that started in abnormally hot temperatures has burned through more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) near Spain's Costa Blanca and forced 180 people to flee their homes, officials said Monday.

Published: 15 April 2024 14:47 CEST
Wildfire rages in Spain's Alicante as temperatures rise
Around 180 people have been evacuated after a wildfire broke out in Tárbena, near Benidorm. Photo: Bomberos Alicante

The fire began on Sunday near Tárbena in the Valencia region (Alicante province) as temperatures reached 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), which is unusually high for the season.

Heat, wind and low humidity fuelled the blaze which media reports said may have started with an agricultural fire.

“The fire is still active” after a “complicated” night for firefighters, the region’s emergency services wrote on X, the former Twitter, saying the blaze had destroyed “more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres)” of land.

“Around 180 people have been evacuated” from the two worst-hit areas, Pilar Bernabe, the central government representative in Valencia, told public television.

Eight air units battled the blaze alongside firefighters and troops from the UME military emergency unit which is called in to help with larger fires.

According to the AEMET national weather service, temperatures rose above 30C in more than 65 areas across Spain on Saturday, including places as far north as the Pyrenees, Galicia and the Castilla y Leon region.

Tárbena is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the coast, near the coastal resort of Benidorm.

In 2022, some 500 wildfires destroyed huge more than 300,000 hectares of land in Spain, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

READ ALSO: Heat records for April already broken across Spain

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TOURISM

Spain’s Valencia to limit tour group numbers

Valencia's city council is intent on developing a more 'sustainable' tourist model that doesn't inconvenience locals.

Published: 11 April 2024 09:27 CEST
Spain's Valencia to limit tour group numbers

Valencia council and the city’s Association of Official Tourist Guides have signed an agreement to limit tourist groups to 25 people throughout the city and 20 in the ‘Ciutat Vella’ (old town) area of the city centre.

Tourism has increased markedly in the Mediterranean city in recent years. In the city centre, it is not uncommon to see groups of sixty or more tourists arrive together on a coach and move around the city in one group.

“We are committed to the consolidation of a sustainable tourism model, guaranteeing the profitability of businesses, improving employment figures, but always preserving the value of our natural and cultural resources and our Mediterranean lifestyle,” the city’s Councillor for Tourism, Innovation and Investment, Paula Llobet, said at the presentation of the agreement.

READ ALSO: Nine things you should never say to a Valencian person

In addition to capping tourist group numbers, the agreement also aims to ensure that tour guides working in the city can coordinate their routes and itineraries to avoid overlapping with another in the same places so that visitors can enjoy their tours without inconveniencing locals.

They will also choose the most suitable places around town to make stops and do their explanations, and find alternative routes to allow a smooth flow of visitors, locals, and traffic.

READ ALSO: Where in Spain to locals ‘hate’ tourists?

Tourists on guided tours will use individual headset systems to avoid excessive noise in keeping with a municipal noise ordinance prohibiting the use of megaphones and microphones.

In addition, the council will demand that guides working in Valencia have the necessary qualifications recognised by the Generalitat so that only accredited tour guides can work in the city.

The council will also monitor flows of people in the city through the deployment of sensors to record visitor levels at tourist attractions and provide guides with the data they need to optimise their routes and avoid crowds.

“This agreement seems to us a very useful tool because it focuses on the commitment to balanced development, the preservation of heritage and the quality of life of locals,” said Llobet.

Llobet also stressed that tourist guides are “the best ambassadors to ensure that visitors respect the rules, such as not sitting down to eat on the stairs of protected buildings.” The city council also hopes that tour guides can encourage local hospitality and promote sustainability.

The city council will also, through coordination with local police, try to prevent intrusiveness on daily life in the city through inspections.

READ ALSO: Barcelona to hand out €3,000 fines to tour guides with groups of more than 15

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