Families have been forced to leave their pets behind as they flee blazes raging in eastern Spain after the wildfire season arrived earlier than expected. Sky News reports that authorities have told 'fire tourists' to keep away from fires that have caused hundreds of families to flee their homes in Spain's eastern Castellon region.
The wildfire season has arrived earlier than expected, prompting 1,700 villagers to leave their homes in the Valencia and Aragon regions. Antonio Zarzoso, 24, who fled the village of Puebla de Arenoso, told Sky News: "How am I supposed to feel? Your town is burning, your life is burning. Our animals were there and no-one can tell us anything."
Sky News reports that the flames scorched more than 9,900 acres of forest, and says that officials have accused onlookers of putting themselves at risk and disrupting efforts to extinguish flames.
More than 500 firefighters, supported by planes and helicopters, have been battling the fire on the fourth day (Sunday March 26) after it broke out near the village of Villanueva de Viver in the Valencia region, emergency services said. Police spotted 14 cyclists near the scene trying to get a closer look, Valencia's regional head of interior affairs Gabrielo Bravo told reporters.
"We ask once again and above all tourists not to engage in fire tourism, not to approach the perimeter area," she said.
Locals told Sky News that the fire could have a devastating impact on the local economy, which depended on tourism. Jorge Grausell, 72, said: "The people here live from cycling, hiking, and the few bars. You see this and it is a disaster for anyone who likes nature."
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Ximo Puig, the president of the Valencia region, told reporters that the wildfire was "very early in the spring, very voracious from the beginning". He added that the effects of climate change are "undeniable" and such fires are likely to be an annual event in a country where 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land last year, according to the European Commission.
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