Just a month after a massive wildfire devastated the north-western Spanish province of Zamora, the blaze is once again consuming parts of the region while locals watch helplessly as their lands are destroyed.
About 30 kilometers away, a column of smoke can be seen rising into the sky and obscuring the landscape.
Antonio Puga wept as he watched the desolate scene and said he felt “desperate and helpless” as flames engulfed his village of Pumarejo de Tera.
“We could have avoided all of that,” said Puga, who is in his 60s.
Before him, fires eat up the fields and make them crackle. A relentless wind revives embers and ignites pines.
A helicopter hauled water from a nearby river and dumped it onto the smoldering fields.
Around 6,000 people from around 30 towns in this rural region have been evacuated from their homes since Sunday.
The wildfires have claimed two lives – that of a firefighter near the village of Losacio and a shepherd whose body was found in a nearby town.
They are by far the largest of the dozens of blazes raging across Spain amid a searing heatwave affecting much of western Europe.
– ‘Already too late’ –
In June, wildfire devastated almost 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) in the Sierra de la Culebra, a forested mountain range near the border with Portugal known for its wolf population.
It was the biggest fire in Spain since 2004.
Desperate locals try to help firefighters put out the blazes by carrying hoses or transporting water on their tractors. But they are angry with the authorities.
“The fire department was late, the helicopters were there this morning, then they left at 3 p.m. and now we only have one,” Puga said.
Alberto Escade, a 48-year-old technician, was upset when he saw three fire engines leave the area.
“They keep saying they’re overwhelmed,” he said.
“They arrive and then say: It’s already too late, it’s lost.” They are ordered to take care of inhabited areas,” he added.
Local authorities are responding to the criticism by saying saving lives is a priority.
The village’s former mayor, Isabel Blanco, is also upset.
A month ago, wildfire devastated one side of the road, she said, pointing to the charred vegetation on the right. And now it has devastated the land on the other side.
The fire department was “a little late,” said the 52-year-old.
– ‘Forgotten Spain’ –
She sees it as a symptom of the neglect of rural, deserted regions like Zamora – often referred to as “forgotten Spain” – a recurring political theme in the country.
In Zamora, thousands of people spent the night on cots at a reception center for evacuees.
Many refused to speak to the media, their minds consumed by fear that their homes would not survive the blaze.
Daniel Santamaria, 21, said he was on holiday at his grandparents’ house when the approaching flames forced him to flee in a hurry with only a backpack.
He recalls how ash-filled raindrops “leaved black spots as they fell.”
Luis Rivero, 76, seated just meters away, said he would not forget “the strong wind that carried away everything in its path” and fanned the flames.
Laura Gago, a 36-year-old beekeeper from the village of Escober de Tabara, said through sobs that she “hasn’t had the strength yet” to check her 700 hives, but estimates that “90 percent of their production has burned.”
“We can’t do anything about nature, the wind, the temperatures, the drought. Climate change is here. He’s not going away,” she added.
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