Around 500 people have been evacuated from their homes due to a wildfire that has so far burned 8,500 hectares of land in the southwestern Spanish region of Extremadura, according to sources from local authorities on Saturday. The fire broke out on Wednesday night in the ‘Las Hurdes’ region of Extremadura, a region where wildfires in July 2022 caused devastation of 5,000 hectares, and has spread out of control due to strong winds and dry conditions. The villages of Cadalso, Descargamaria, Robledillo de Gata and some neighbourhoods of Torrecilla de Los Angeles and Ovejuela have been evacuated as a precautionary measure and three main roads have been closed. This follows the destruction of almost 310,000 hectares of land in 2022. The Spanish government has recently approved a 2.2-billion-euro (2.38-billion-U.S.-dollar) package to help deal with the ongoing drought.
