A new heat wave that hit parts of Europe again this week brought to Portugal, along with temperatures of up to 47°C – the highest in the historical series for the month of July – the memory of a trauma experienced five years ago by the population. .
While the thermometers remain high, a trail of fires has spread through the country’s forested regions. The flames have already consumed more than 38,000 hectares, the largest area burned since 2017, when a series of similar cases led to a total of more than 100 deaths.
This Friday (15) the first death was recorded, albeit indirectly: a plane fighting the fire crashed in the region of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in northern Portugal, killing the pilot – the accident has not yet been revealed. . The flames have revived trauma and make the atmosphere one of apprehension, with fires having already forced the evacuation of people from their homes and the closing of offices.
Entire villages had to be evacuated and, according to Civil Protection data, at least 187 people have already been injured, including 4 in a serious condition. On Wednesday (13), a major fire closed the country’s main highway, the A1, which crosses Portugal from north to south.
Scientists say Europe’s increasingly early, frequent and lasting heat waves are directly linked to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases, a symptom of the climate crisis. The phenomenon in Portugal this year also resulted in a below-expected rainy season. So, with much of the territory in a drought situation, the flames spread easily.
Targeted by accusations of negligence in managing the forestry issue in 2017, in which a series of failures in fighting the flames were pointed out, Prime Minister António Costa put his government on alert in the face of the first signs of the fire season. The socialist postponed an official trip to Mozambique and called on ministers to closely monitor the issue. In addition, he decreed a state of contingency in the country due to weather conditions.
Among the rules imposed by this determination are the prohibition of access and movement in predefined forest areas and the ban on the use of machines and fireworks. The measure, scheduled to run until this Sunday (17), can be extended.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also withdrew from an official trip abroad because of the situation, and the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, reported an overload in the country’s hospital system, raising the possibility of a one-off increase in deaths recorded this week. be linked to heat.
Caution about the flames also affected the cultural life of the Portuguese, with the review of the holding of various events. Initially planned to take place in a forested area in the Sesimbra region, the Super Bock Super Rock music festival was hastily transferred to an arena in Lisbon.
In addition to the lack of forest management and land clearing, which exacerbate fires, Portugal also faces the action of people who deliberately set fire to the woods. This year, more than 50 have already been arrested caught in such occurrences.
The country has once again activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, which provides for the assistance of other member countries of the European Union in fighting the flames. The Portuguese situation, however, has been seen in almost the entire neighborhood of the rest of the continent.
More than a thousand kilometers to the north, the United Kingdom on Friday issued, for the first time, a red alert of “extreme heat” for the next few days. “Nights are also expected to be exceptionally hot, particularly in urban areas. This is likely to lead to widespread impacts on people and infrastructure,” the country’s Meteorological Office said in a statement.
The expectation is that the thermometers can exceed 40°C from Monday, which would be unprecedented.
At the other extreme, in Greece, two people died on Wednesday after the crash of a helicopter fighting the flames of large fires. On the same day, around 6,000 tourists had to be hastily evacuated from campgrounds in the Gironde region of France. Outbreaks in other parts of the country have also forced hundreds of people to leave their homes.
In Spain, where thousands of hectares have already burned, the measures adopted have varied according to the region. Neighboring Portugal, Galicia and Extremadura remain on high alert.
