Wildfire burns 750 hectares and confines 12,000 people on Costa Brava

A tramontana-fuelled wildfire has burned around 750 hectares on the Costa Brava (Girona), forcing 12,000 residents to stay indoors. Another blaze in Vilavenut is affecting farmland. The flames from an out-of-control wildfire on the Costa Brava have devastated around 750 hectares of woodland and have forced some 12,000 people to stay indoors in several municipalities in Girona. The Generalitat of Catalonia has requested support from the UME to fight the Empordà wildfire, which broke out in La Bisbal d’Empordà and, according to the Rural Agents, may have been started by mechanical works on a road. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has warned about the scale of the wildfire and has urged people to follow the authorities’ instructions to the letter, while the Generalitat has advised residents in the Barcelona area to avoid travelling to Baix Empordà, Gironès and Pla de l’Estany to make firefighting operations easier. Preventive lockdown and mobile alerts The La Bisbal fire, still active and out of control after entering the Les Gavarres massif, has produced a large pall of smoke and the preventive lockdown of several municipalities in the Empordà, affecting around 12,000 people. In addition, some 40,000 have received Es-Alert mobile warnings due to the coverage of mobile phone masts. At a holiday camp affected by the lockdowns there are 150 children, all of whom are safe. In the province of Girona, another fire in Vilavenut has forced residents in the settlements of Vilavenut and Palol de la Farga to stay indoors, with alerts sent to the population. Tramontana winds and road closures Firefighters have deployed more than fifty crews, eleven of them aircraft, to tackle the La Bisbal wildfire, which is being driven by the tramontana wind and has generated secondary outbreaks in Les Gavarres. The blaze, which was declared at 09:17, could be affected by a shift to a sea breeze, the marinada, so teams are working on its right flank to prevent it from spreading towards the coast. The Vilavenut fire, which broke out around midday, is advancing through farmland and is being tackled by three aircraft and 17 ground units, as well as tractors ploughing the land to slow the flames. The fires have also forced the closure of several roads, including the C-66 in Palafrugell and routes in Cornellà del Terri, Vilademuls, La Bisbal d’Empordà, Calonge, Banyoles and Llagostera. On X, the social network, numerous users have shared videos and images of the fire in the Les Gavarres mountains and the Baix Empordà, expressing their shock and solidarity with firefighters and local residents.