The worst of the fires is over: Spain moves to the alert and monitoring phase.

Madrid, Aug 31 (EFE) - Spain has moved from a "pre-emergency" phase to a "state of alert and permanent monitoring," effectively bringing to an end the worst of the most tragic and devastating wildfires in the country's recent history, with more than 300,000 hectares burned, four fatalities, and 48 injuries.

This was announced at a press conference by the Director of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, following the meeting of the State Coordination Committee (Cecod), where it was agreed last night that circumstances had improved enough to allow the country to move to the next phase.

"This tragic episode in our country's history, caused by massive forest fires occurring simultaneously over the course of 20 days, has ended, but the firefighting campaign continues, and that's why no one can let their guard down. The government remains in this alert phase and is constantly monitoring the situation with all available state resources," Barcones explained.

In this "Black August," 93 forest fires have been reported to Cecod, 59 of which have been declared pre-emergency operational status two.

Of those 93 fires, 39 were considered "major fires," having destroyed more than 500 hectares (ha). Pending the final count, data from the Copernicus satellite indicates more than 300,000 hectares of devastation, the Director of Civil Protection emphasized in her report.

August 16th was the worst day, with 23 fires in operational status: 12 in Castile and León, 5 in Galicia, 3 in Extremadura, 2 in Asturias and 1 in Cantabria.

Currently, 57 people have been arrested and 142 are under investigation for these incidents.

Preceded by a meteorological anomaly

The twenty days in which the fires ravaged part of Spain were preceded by a "major meteorological anomaly" in the affected areas. The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) issued the first special heat wave warning on July 31 and continued to update it daily until its end on August 18.

The heat wave that occurred those days "was the most intense and the third longest since at least 1975. Four of those days were record hot days since records began in the 1950s," Barcones noted. These were on August 11, 12, 16, and 17.

"The presence of an African air mass, high levels of sunshine, very high temperatures, and very low humidity levels made it difficult to stabilize the fires," he added.

Added to this were strong gusts of wind and shifting dry storms, which contributed to worsening the situation, particularly on August 12 and 13, which were "the most adverse."

The extreme heat wave in August was preceded by a very wet spring, but by an extremely hot and very dry June and July in the area subsequently ravaged by the major fires.

Media reinforcement

The government has strengthened Aemet's staff and activities to advise the regions, which requested 348 special fire bulletins in August, 307 of them from Castile and León.

The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge's (Miteco) firefighting brigades, deployed throughout the country, have been fully operational. The maximum number of aerial resources deployed was 53 in a single day, 57 if international firefighting resources are included.

In Castile and León, the maximum number of Miteco aircraft operating on the same day was reached.

Regarding international media, on August 11, the Government announced the pre-alert status in CECIS, the application managed by the European Civil Protection Mechanism, to receive support due to the accumulation of large active forest fires.

Ten European countries have assisted Spain. Those that have provided the most air support have been France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia; and those that have provided the most ground support have been France, Germany, Finland, Greece, Romania, and Andorra, which does not belong to the European mechanism but has a cooperation agreement with Spain.

In total, a third of media outlets across Europe have been working to put out the Spanish fires this August.

Military Emergency Unit

The Military Emergency Unit (UME), with support from the rest of the Armed Forces, has participated in 47 firefighting operations. This has resulted in a cumulative total of 5,772 military personnel and 2,138 resources.

Regarding traffic, 2,584 panels and 20,000 messages have been activated to warn of various messages related to the fires.

The Civil Guard and the Police have had 5,500 personnel dedicated to these major fires, carrying out, among other actions, 35,917 evacuations. The General Directorate of Civil Protection handled more than 10,000 communications in August alone.

"We have all won this battle. But the war is not over because climate change is still here, and now we must all come together again to strengthen the entire system, to be able to continue protecting our country," Barcones concluded. EFEverde

Photograph: EFE/Mariam A. Montesinos archive resource