Morocco sends two Canadair aircraft to Spain to fight fires

Spain is burning. In recent weeks, fires in the north of the country have been destroying thousands of hectares and entire villages. Thousands of people have had to be evacuated from their homes. 

In this context, Morocco has sent two Canadair aircraft specialised in fighting forest fires to help control the fires in the Zamora region, where the largest fire since these natural disasters began to be recorded in 1969 is active.

The two firefighting aircraft will depart for Spain from Portugal, which itself requested assistance from the Moroccan authorities on Monday to extinguish the fires on its territory.

"German firefighters are on their way to Spain to help fight the serious forest fires. A group of 67 firefighters and 21 vehicles are expected to arrive today to assist the Spanish authorities over the next two weeks. They will work alongside Moroccan Canadair aircraft based in Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula," the German Embassy in Rabat said on its Facebook page.  

Since 11 August, the number of hectares burned in Spain has doubled compared to the total for the rest of the year, and eight large fires covering more than 10,000 hectares have been reported, according to EFE.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), part of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation and monitoring programme, more than 380,000 hectares have been burned in Spain this year, of which approximately 200,000 have occurred in the last week.

Currently, what is considered the largest fire in Spain's history since official statistics began in 1968 is active.

The fire is located in Molezuelas de la Carballeda, in the province of Zamora, which also affects León, in the centre-north of the country, and has caused the death of two men who were volunteering to fight the fire. This event has affected at least 31,500 hectares.