70 evacuated as wildfire torches southern Spain

Spanish authorities said Thursday that they evacuated 70 people from their homes to ensure their safety as a wildfire burned unchecked in southern Andalusia.

SPAIN SPRINGTIME WILDFIRES MORE FEROCIOUS THAN PREVIOUS YEARS DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, ACCORDING TO EU OFFICIALS

Emergency services for fighting wildfires in the Andalusia region said that heavy winds with gusts as strong as 50 mph have fanned the flames that broke out on Wednesday in Tarifa near the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

The residents were evacuated from the settlement called El Chaparral as a precaution. Authorities said had scorched some 123 acres in hilly terrain close by.

DROUGHT IN SPAIN REACHES ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ LEVELS, EMPTIES RESERVOIRS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Five units of firefighters battled the fire with the support of seven aircraft, authorities said.

Spain led Europe in land burned last year during a record hot 2022 that government officials and independent experts said was a product of global climate change. A prolonged drought has authorities concerned that the wildfire season is starting earlier than usual after the country endured its first major fires of the year in March