Good news from Portbou. Firefighters of the Generalitat of Catalonia have declared that the forest fire that has been burning throughout the weekend in the Alt Empordà, Catalonia's northernmost coastal county, is now under control. During Sunday night, around thirty ground-based fire teams, including water trucks and light vehicles, remained in the terrain of the fire, continuing to keep the entire perimeter doused and also putting out stumps and vegetation remains that were still smoking, and during this Monday around fifteen teams have remained on stand by at three strategic points in order to quickly reach any part in the affected area. According to data from Catalonia's Rural Agents, the three-day wildfire affected 573 hectares in Catalonia's most northern coastal municipalities before the French border: the town of Colera, which saw 387 hectares of its territory burnt, and the neighbouring town of Portbou, with 185 hectares affected. With regard to road damage, the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT) reported that this morning the Mossos d'Esquadra police had reopened the N-260 road, the coastal route connecting Spanish and French territory, where normal vehicle traffic has been able to resume, after previously being restricted to residents and essential workers.
The strong northerly wind - the notorious Tramuntana which makes Portbou one of the windiest spots in Catalonia - greatly complicated the tasks of extinguishing this fire, declared on Friday afternoon in a forest trail near the Portbou reservoir, a few kilometres inland. In fact, the wind gusts barely dropped below 60 kilometres per hour, a circumstance that made it impossible for most of the aerial firefighting vehicles to take off. Last night, the water trucks of the specialist forest fire units, the GRAF forest action teams and the EPAF forestry prevention teams, worked alongside light coordination and command vehicles, as the strong coastal wind slowly declined.
Spectacular images of a destructive weekend
The wildfire burned a large area of forest, but also fields of crop and land dedicated to grazing, and at some points came within metres of homes on the edges of Colera. Around 300 people were evacuated from homes at vulnerable points from FrIday to Sunday, while locals in the urban nuclei of Llançà and Colera were confined to their houses. Despite the proximity of the flames to homes, firefighters managed to keep the fire out of the built-up parts of Colera.
Businesses claim compensation for economic losses
Many restaurateurs and retailers in the municipalities of Portbou and Colera are asking for financial compensation to deal with the impact the fire has had on their establishments. As they explained, the fire caused most of tourist reservations to be cancelled, leaving many empty rooms and fresh food spoiled, since the area also suffered a power cut on Saturday. Gael Rodríguez, mayor of Portbou, affirmed that his town council will meet with businesses to determine "what effects they have had" and to "be able to help all these people". Some restaurateurs calculate that individual losses could reach up to 5,000 euros, and thus maintain that "there should be some kind of help because, if there is no income, it is difficult to face all the expenses".