San Francisco Frontiers - Spain races to contain blazes before new heatwave

Wildfires that broke out in forests around the Spanish capital at the height of the summer holidays have forced some 60,000 people to flee their homes, often with just minutes' notice, some leaving pets and medicine behind.

"You run to save what you can and then you turn to defend" against the fire, said Karim Benali, 39, a volunteer who spoke to AFP on a road near Navaluenga, west of Madrid.

"There were some 48 homes here, they burned," he said, surrounded by charred earth and trees blanketed with a persistent smell of smoke.

The fires devoured forests left tinder-dry by successive heatwaves and lack of rain since May.

David Sanchez, a 48-year-old painter and decorator, had just returned home to Cebreros after evacuating at the weekend to find that his small olive and pistachio grove had been consumed by the inferno.

"Now it's time to clean up and plant again and that's it. It's crap, to be honest. And the fire has flared up again down there," he said, surrounded by air still smokey enough to burn the eyes and throat.

Overnight, lower temperatures, weaker winds and higher air humidity helped make progress against the blazes west of the capital, the Madrid regional government said.

"The situation has improved slightly, but the fire is still active," it said.

But with humidity levels about to drop and temperatures soar across Spain, hitting 42C in the northeast and 39C in the centre according to meteorological agency AEMET, firefighters have only a small window of opportunity.

- 'Extreme caution' -

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters that Monday and Tuesday "are absolutely decisive days" to control the fires, before temperatures start rising again.

"The next two days will not bring the most favourable conditions, nor the ones we would have wanted, but they are two days in which we can take the initiative, make progress, and work towards controlling and containing the blaze."

AEMET officially declared that a heatwave, the fourth of the summer, would begin on Tuesday, lasting until "at least" Sunday.

"The wildfire danger level will continue to increase, reaching extreme levels and making firefighting efforts more difficult due to high temperatures, locally gusty southerly winds and widespread low humidity," it said in a statement.

Reacting to the forecast, Sanchez said: "I ask for understanding and call on all citizens in all the country to exercise extreme caution and take every possible precaution."

"We face difficult hours, complex hours" ahead, he warned.

- 'Lost everything' -

In Chapineria, west of Madrid, the flames had torn through dozens of vehicles at an industrial park, leaving charred shells behind, AFP photographers saw.

Meanwhile, at a sports hall in Las Rozas de Madrid just outside the capital, the displaced sprawled on camp beds, held their heads in their hands and comforted pets as they awaited news.

Maria Angeles Canete fought back tears as she looked around the desolation that used to be her campsite near Navaluenga.

"We lost everything," she said, of the site that used to draw a wide range of international tourists. "We had this campsite, we had another one, and we've lost it all. We have nothing."

Scientists say climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.

Sanchez blamed global warming on Monday, describing the fires as "the most painful expression of a climate emergency".

"This is no longer an exception, this is a rule itself," he added during a meeting in Madrid.

The fires in the Iberian country have affected an area of 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) -- nearly the size of New York City -- according to the authorities.

Since the start of the year, fires in Spain have ravaged 150,000 hectares and killed 13 people, according to Sanchez.

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J.Martinez--SFF