More than 1,500 residents of the Tarifa area in Cadiz province, located at Spain’s southernmost tip, were evacuated early Monday morning due to a forest fire that erupted Sunday afternoon. This information was confirmed by Antonio Sanz, the Andalusian regional government’s Interior Minister, in an interview with radio station Cadena Ser.
Minister Sanz added that an undetermined number of tourists staying at various hotels and campsites in the area were also evacuated as a precautionary measure. “Yesterday we had to evacuate thousands of cars from several beaches. It was a very complicated, very dangerous situation. The operation was completed in record time,” Sanz explained.
Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the night and into the early morning hours to contain the flames. “Today will be long and complicated,” stated Sanz, emphasizing that strong winds present one of the most difficult challenges for firefighting efforts.
In addition to the Tarifa wildfire, authorities are also combating a separate fire in the Ponteceso area of Galicia (La Coruña province), where the Military Emergency Unit (UME) is deployed.