Record Spanish wildfires close part of Camino de Santiago route

By Nacho Doce and Guillermo Martinez

ASTORGA, Spain (Reuters) -Spain's worst wave of wildfires on record spread to the southern slopes of the Picos de Europa mountains on Monday and prompted authorities to close part of the popular Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.

"This is a fire situation we haven't experienced in 20 years," Defence Minister Margarita Robles told Cadena SER radio.

"The fires have special characteristics as a result of climate change and this huge heat wave," she said.

The heatwave spanning 16 days is the third-longest on record and sent temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) over the weekend, according to state weather agency Aemet. It is expected to start easing on Monday evening or Tuesday.

Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades, with Spain and Portugal among the hardest-hit countries.

So far this year, an estimated 344,400 hectares (851,000 acres) have burned in Spain - an area equivalent to the size of the island of Mallorca - according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

It's the largest area on records that go back to 2006 and more than four times the 2006-2024 average.

A firefighter died when his truck crashed near the village of Espinoso de Compludo, raising the death toll to four from the recent wave of fires.

In Portugal, wildfires have burned about 216,200 hectares so far this year, according to EFFIS - more than four times the 2006-2024 average for this period - and two people have died.

The Spanish army has deployed 3,000 troops and 50 aircraft to help firefighters, emergency services general director Virginia Barcones said. Spain is also receiving or has been offered help from France, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic through the European Civil Protection mechanism, according to the Interior Ministry.

In the past week alone, about 20 wildfires have devastated thousands of hectares in the regions of Galicia and Castile and Leon, forcing authorities to cut rail services in the area, as well as a 50-km (30-mile) stretch of the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage path trodden by thousands in the summer.

It links France and the city of Santiago de Compostela on the western tip of Spain, where the remains of the apostle St James are said to be buried.

'TERRIBLE THING'

Patrice Lepettre, a 75-year-old pilgrim in Astorga, told Reuters the inconvenience for hikers was temporary and could not be compared to the locals' plight.

"It's a terrible thing for the population. The pilgrims can go back home and come another year to finish the Camino, but for the people who live here, it's a terrible thing," he said.

Leaders of regions run by the main opposition People's Party (PP) have criticised the central government for poor planning and asked for more resources to fight the wildfires.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday urged a "state pact" on climate change with all main political forces, which was dismissed as a "diversion" by PP spokesperson Ester Munoz on Monday.

The Interior ministry said 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June.

In Palacios de Jamuz in the northern region of Castile and Leon, where a wildfire had burned down whole rows of houses, Delia Lobato was inspecting the damage and lamented the deaths of people and trees.

"Such young people who had their whole lives ahead and who are gone, that's the hardest thing," she said.

"We will plant again, and if I don't see it grow well my children will."

(Writing by Inti Landauro; editing by Andrei Khalip, Bernadette Baum and Giles Elgood)