Wildfire Spreads on Spain-France Border

After winds decreased enough to allow water bomber planes to fly, firefighters from Spain and France were able to put out a blaze Saturday along their shared Mediterranean coastal border.

However, authorities in Andalucia's southern area reported Saturday that firefighters were battling another inferno farther to the west.

Strong winds that fueled the fires near Portbou, a steep forested region on the Spanish side of the border that is popular with visitors, forced more than 130 people to flee from numerous settlements overnight.

In the area of Portbou, which has a cross-border train connection to France, the fire, which started on Friday, has damaged some 573 hectares (1,400 acres) of land, according to Spanish forestry rangers.

On Saturday afternoon, a representative of the Catalonia regional administration stated that the fire had stopped growing and that the evacuation order had been withdrawn.

Residents should continue to stay at home and refrain from needless travel, according to officials.

To put out the fire, 12 French fire engine units and over 300 Catalan firemen collaborated.

They said that the winds had decreased enough to allow water bombers and helicopters to assist, but they were unable to estimate how long it may take to put the fire totally under control.

After gusting as high as 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) on Friday night, weather forecasters predicted that winds will rise up again in the evening.

The houses in the Llanca neighborhood, south of Portbou, were in risk of being destroyed by the fires earlier on Saturday.

On Saturday, up to 4,000 houses had their electricity restored and rail service between Portbou and Figueras in the south was resumed, according to Catalan civil protection officials.

The cause of the fire was the subject of an inquiry, according to regional officials.

Authorities in Andalusia's southern area, which is on the Mediterranean coast, however, reported that 150 firefighters were battling a fresh fire on Saturday.

High heat and strong gusts had caused some 70 people to escape, according to Spanish media, and they were battling such conditions.

As 17 planes and helicopters were dispatched to assist fight the flames in the forested region, where two main routes had been closed, other inhabitants nearby to the city of Huelva are being encouraged to stay in their houses.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), more than 300,000 hectares of land in Spain were destroyed by wildfires last year, setting a record for Europe.

According to Effis, this year has already resulted in the destruction of almost 70,000 hectares.