Over 1000 people evacuated as Spanish mountains burn

Over 1000 people evacuated as Spanish mountains burn in Spain’s Avila.

The mayor of Solosancho, in Avila, Jesus Martin, has been left in tears after a “very hard” night for residents in the area. He emotionally spoke of how no one has “slept a wink” and how “our mountain range has been burned”.

The municipality only has 900 inhabitants and Martin along with the rest of the residents have felt hours of “tension, panic and anguish”. So far about 500 people from the villages of Villaviciosa and Robledillo have had to be evacuated to safety.

These are not the only people to have been evacuated due to the fire and previously 250 people from the town of Riofrio and a further 250 people from Sotalbo were evacuated. This brings the total number of evacuees to around 1000 after a fire broke out on Saturday, August 14. The blaze broke out after a vehicle caught fire near the N-502 (Avila-Cordoba). The fire spread between Navalacruz and Cepeda de la Mora.

The mayor has spoken out and expressed his gratitude for how the residents have coped during evacuation after a night where “nobody slept a wink”.

Some evacuees have been moved to the Centro de Usos Multiples (CUM) Carlos Sastre, which has been set up in the south of the town. So far around hundred people are already staying there.

As reported 20 minutes: “’There have been moments of tension, panic, anguish, but we are in good hands’, said the mayor of Solosancho, who was moved and thanked the coordination of the Junta and the contribution of human and material resources by the central government and the provincial council, as well as the local volunteers who have also collaborated.”

So far according to the mayor some houses have been affected by the fire along with livestock too.

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