The forest fire declared last May in AricoIn Tenerife, it is at the moment the one that has affected the most forest area, around 3,000 hectares, of all those that have been registered in all of Spain so far this year.
Of the 13 large fires that have occurred to date, five of them were declared between the months of January and February, two in Almería (in Berja and Olula de Castro), two in Cantabria (in the municipalities of Udias and Cabuérniga) and one that affected areas of Navarra, Gipuzkoa and southern France.
The other seven, discounting that of Arico, were declared between July 12 and 27, in Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia and Catalonia.
Two of them in Ciudad Real (in the municipalities of Corral de Calatrava and Almadén), one in Cuenca (in Víllora) and another in Albacete (Tobarra). In Andalusia a fire broke out in Villarasa (Huelva) and in Catalonia a fire broke out in Santa Coloma de Queralt (Tarragona) that devastated 1,288.85 hectares.
The balance of forest fires in the first seven months of the year -until July 25- amounts to a total of 5,613 claims, 27.25 percent more than in the same period of 2020 (4,411 fires), but below of the average of the last 10 years.
According to data provided by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition (Miteco) and collected by Efe, this period (January 1-July 25) has been the fifth with fewer fires in the last decade, behind 2013 (4,322 claims), 2016 ( 3,670), 2018 (2,966) and 2020 (4,411).
Of the total number of fires, 3,654 were outbreaks (less than 1 hectare affected) and 1,959 resulted in fires of more or equal to one hectare, affecting 0.135 percent of the total area of the Spanish territory and a total of 37,535.90 hectares , almost 16,500 hectares more than in 2020.
During the first seven months of this year, 11 large fires (GIF) have occurred throughout the territory, those that exceed 500 hectares, a number that in the last decade only exceeded those that occurred in 2012 (21) during the same period , and which is almost four times higher than those that occurred in 2020 (3).
The year 2012 continues to lead the year with the most GIFs -between January 1 and July 25- of the last decade (21), while, on the contrary, 2018 is, with 1 major fire, the one with the least loss of this class has added.
During 2021 the type of vegetation most affected by the fire was mostly woody, with 10,693.33 hectares of wooded area and 23,104.67 hectares of scrub and open forest.
By geographical area, 46.16 percent of the claims took place in the northwest of the Peninsula, an area that includes the communities of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country and the Castilian provinces of León and Zamora, while in the Inland communities, the rest of non-coastal communities, originated 34.81 percent of the claims.
In the Mediterranean area, which includes coastal autonomous communities with the Mediterranean Sea plus its interior provinces, 18.60 percent of the fires were generated, while in the Canary Islands archipelago 0.43 percent were generated.
Regarding the burned area, 53.61 percent of the Spanish forest area burned in the northwest, 26 percent in the interior communities, 12 percent in the Mediterranean area and 8.28 percent in the Islands Canary Islands.
Last June the Government launched the 2021 forest fire campaign -which includes the period from June 15 to October 15- with 69 air means, 7 mobile units and thousands of troops mobilized by the ministries for the Ecological Transition, Defense and Interior.
The 69 air assets correspond to 18 Cl-215T and CL-415 amphibious aircraft, 4 surveillance helicopters, 8 Kamov bomber helicopters, 10 AT-802 ground cargo aircraft, 6 AT-802FB amphibious aircraft, 19 AT-802FB amphibious transport helicopters, brigades, 4 coordination and observation aircraft (ACO).
Added to them are 7 mobile analysis and planning units on the ground and nearly 1,000 personnel, including technicians, pilots and aircraft mechanics, personnel from the forestry brigades and air assets bases, among others.
In addition, the Military Emergency Unit contributes 1,400 personnel in interventions and another 1,500 in logistical support functions, together with the corresponding land and air personnel.
