Italy and Greece are the countries most affected in terms of surface burned by the fires that affect the two shores of the Mediterranean, both in southern Europe and in northern Africa.
In Italy, the worst continues to happen in Sicily, where this week four people have been charred to death and they have already burned 700 hectares of forest in 338 fires that leave damage for 60 million euros, according to the authorities, to which 200 million are added more, according to the agricultural sector, due to the heat wave with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees.
About thirty fires were still active yesterday, although the situation has improved in the province of Messina, except for a few hotspots. In Palermo, the fires in the Altofonte area also continued, while the firemen assure that the one in the Fico valley is under control. The flames did not spare the archaeological park of Segesta, whose surroundings were burned, although they did not damage the Greek temple and the theater in a disaster that would have been caused, according to the regional government.
Greece is the other southern European country most affected, with large fires throughout the territory and new foci in the interior of the country, while the flames on the islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Euboea continued to be out of control yesterday. The front that most worried the authorities is the one that started on Wednesday five kilometers west of Volos, in central Greece, as it threatens the industrial area of this city of 150,000 inhabitants; during the morning of Thursday at least nine coastal towns were evacuated.
According to the Greek Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vasilis Kikilias, 594 fires have affected Greece in the past two weeks and, in addition to damage to property and the environment, have so far caused five deaths.
In Rhodes, around 16,000 hectares of forest have already burned and several homes have been burnt down, while 19,000 people – including 7,000 tourists – had to be evacuated. In Euboea, a large front was revived yesterday morning around the coastal town of Caristo, while in Corfu another large forest fire continued yesterday out of control.
Spain is also facing several fires this July, although they have not reached the devastating levels of last year. One of the last to be extinguished in the Peninsula was, yesterday morning, that of Santa Colomba de Curueño (Leon), while in the Canary Islands what was declared on Tuesday at the top of Gran Canaria has stabilized. On the other hand, the extinguishing teams worked against the reactivation of the fire that was declared on the island of La Palma on July 15 and that was burning again in the Caldera de Taburiente national park.
In North Africa, the Algerian authorities confirmed the control of all the fires that particularly affected the region of Kabylia and that leave a balance of 34 dead and more than 300 injured.
On the other hand, the Spanish military emergency unit (UME), which participated in extinguishing the flames in the Tunisian province of Tabarka, yesterday declared the last active focus in Tunisia under control. Since Monday, the Maghreb country recorded 14 outbreaks in eight regions, with one fatality, and it was the Malloula forest that was the most punished area due to its location: in front of the sea in an area exposed to strong winds and the high temperatures, which reached over 50 degrees.
