A forest fire close to the inland village of Gatova, with a population of 450, northwest of Valencia, prompted the evacuation of around 1,000 people on Saturday, authorities said. The blaze, believed to have been sparked by a lightning strike late Thursday, has already consumed more than 400 hectares of land by Friday evening.
The flames were seen moving towards built-up areas, as shown in TV footage. Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME) posted a video on X of firefighters working in the darkness to douse the flames. Several firefighting helicopters and aircraft were also deployed to combat the fire.
Juan Carlos Valderrama, the civil protection minister for the Valencia autonomous community, said buses were on standby to help residents without their own vehicles to leave their homes.
At the same time, heavy rain overnight on Spain’s Costa Dorada triggered flash floods that trapped people in cars, toppled walls and forced the evacuation of a campsite. Roads in the coastal towns of El Vendrell, Coma-ruga and Torredembarra in the Catalonia region were partially submerged. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia reported that several towns recorded nearly 200 liters per square meter in just a few hours.
Local media reported that several people were trapped in their vehicles during the flooding. A regional emergency official said firefighters carried out more than 200 missions to rescue people from vehicles and flooded buildings. Three people were injured when a wall collapsed at the port of Roda de Bera, about 75 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, and another wall collapse at a nearby campsite injured two others.
Around 300 people staying at the campsite were evacuated, with many sheltering at a nearby sports centre, officials said. The agency warned of more heavy rainfall for the coastal region on Saturday morning.
