Wildfires spread dangerously close to southern European capitals

{"text":[[{"start":11.39,"text":"Wildfires have spread dangerously close to capital cities including Madrid, Athens and Podgorica in the past week, as data shows the number of blazes in Europe has jumped by nearly 50 per cent compared with last year."}],[{"start":28.580000000000002,"text":"Firefighters are tackling fires in Spain, Portugal, France, Turkey, Greece and Montenegro as temperatures in parts of southern Europe soar above 40C and countries issue warnings. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":43.81,"text":"In Spain, temperatures up to a maximum of 44C were forecast on Thursday inland as far as Extremadura and more than 40C in parts of Andalusia, the Spanish weather agency warned."}],[{"start":58.75,"text":"The EU’s civil protection mechanism, a supranational firefighting force that can be called on by European countries in need, has been called upon as 16 times so far this year already — as many as in the whole of 2024."}],[{"start":76.28,"text":"Spain requested assistance from the programme for the first time ever on Wednesday, resulting in two planes stationed in France being sent to Spain. Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Greece also requested support this week."}],[{"start":95.27,"text":"Sweden, Romania and Slovakia are among the other countries that have responded with helicopters and firefighters. An European Commission spokesperson said it was working “non stop” to assist the affected countries."}],[{"start":111.81,"text":"Many larger European countries had already expanded their firefighting capabilities in response to the rise in risks as a consequence of global warming. But the spread of the latest fires has stretched their capabilities."}],[{"start":127.59,"text":"The Portuguese minister of internal affairs Maria Lúcia Amaral said on Thursday that her country had asked neighbouring Spain for help but they were struggling with their own wildfires and were unable to assist."}],[{"start":143.37,"text":"“Spain has never failed us, and at this moment Spain has said, ‘don’t count on us because we can’t do it,” she said."}],[{"start":152.67000000000002,"text":"Officials warned of an “extreme risk” of blazes across several countries over the coming week."}],[{"start":159.8,"text":"The threat across most of the Iberian peninsula, southern France, Slovenia, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and the rest of the Balkans was “particularly severe”, agencies said."}],[{"start":176.23000000000002,"text":"Thousands of people had been evacuated because of the fires, including from the western Peloponnese region near Patras, and the holiday islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia in Greece."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":191.72000000000003,"text":"Europe has grappled with several heatwaves over the summer months that have fuelled droughts and wildfires, as well as putting a huge strain on its energy system. "}],[{"start":203.45000000000002,"text":"Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science & Department of Meteorology at Reading university, said the heatwaves were drying out soil and vegetation, “turning landscapes into tinderboxes”. "}],[{"start":221.03000000000003,"text":"“Heatwaves are becoming more intense and frequent due to climate change, which means climate change is directly fuelling wildfires. What we are seeing across Europe right now is a clear example of how extended hot and dry conditions are making wildfires fiercer and harder to control.”"}],[{"start":243.13000000000002,"text":"Data from the European Forest Fire Information System this week showed that more than twice the area across Europe has been burnt by wildfires this year, or some 410,000 hectares compared with less than 189,000ha last year."}],[{"start":264.42,"text":"About 1,600 individual fires have been detected in the continent so far in 2025, compared with about 1,090 for the same period last year. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":278.21000000000004,"text":"Firefighters in Spain were tackling 11 high-risk fires that were active across regions including Castile and León, Galicia on Thursday, according to the ministry of interior."}],[{"start":291.3,"text":"Spain’s justice minister Félix Bolaños said this week that climate change was “making extreme temperatures an obvious risk for fires in our country, which are becoming increasingly devastating and difficult to fight.”"}],[{"start":306.79,"text":"Three people have died, including two volunteer firefighters in Castile and León. The other Spanish victim died after a fire erupted in the outskirts of Madrid."}],[{"start":317.97,"text":"The Madrid-Galicia trainline has been suspended repeatedly this week, and Las Médulas, a natural park and ancient Roman mining area in the region that Unesco declared a world heritage site in 1997, was damaged."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":334.56,"text":"Sara Aagesen, Spain’s energy and environment minister, said in a radio interview on Wednesday that “the number of fires and their intensity” were making the situation more complicated."}],[{"start":348.69,"text":"“The wildfire situation remains serious. Taking extreme caution is essential,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on social media."}],[{"start":361.02,"text":"The US embassy in Montenegro warned on Tuesday that a wildfire near the capital Podgorica could spread closer."}],[{"start":369.77,"text":"Intense wildfires are affecting other parts of the northern hemisphere, such as Canada, where officials say more than 470 blazes have been classed as “out of control”. Thousands of people have also been evacuated in California over the past week."}],[{"start":388.45,"text":"Last month was the third-warmest July on record globally, beaten only by 2023 and 2024. The European continent is warming faster than the global average."}],[{"start":401.53999999999996,"text":"Graphics by Maya de Souza, Jana Tauschinski and Steven Bernard"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":417.53,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1755243057_1900.mp3"}