Hundreds battle new mega-wildfire in Spain

Hundreds battle new mega-wildfire in Spain MADRID: More than 600 firefighters and troops and 29 aircraft on Tuesday (Jul 21) battled for a sixth day a huge wildfire north of Madrid that authorities said is one of the most difficult they have faced. Some 1,200 people have fled their homes and the flames have devastated 29,000 hectares of land in Guadalajara province about 100km north of the Spanish capital. Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano Garcia-Page said firefighters had "practically stopped" the advance of the fire toward the town of Soria but that the inferno was still not under control. The fire started on Thursday in an isolated forest and has since spread quickly across neighbouring hills. Authorities say it has been difficult to control because there are few people in the area, a lot of abandoned scrub land, and a severe drought. Firefighters said that 34 isolated hamlets had been evacuated across Castilla-La Mancha. On top of 1,200 people ordered out of their homes, people in 14 other districts had been told to stay indoors away from the flames. Temperatures are rising again in Spain, which on Jul 9 saw a wildfire that killed 13 people.