© femturisme.cat

Catalonia, Spain — Firefighters on Tuesday evening reported “favorable progress” regarding the wildfire burning since Monday in Paüls (Baix Ebre county, southern Catalonia), which has forced 18,000 people from several municipalities to shelter in place. The arrival of the sea breeze changed the fire’s behavior, and the firefighters have achieved their key priority: preventing the flames from entering Ports Natural Park. Their current goal is to stabilize the fire – which has affected about 3,200 hectares – between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. …Fire department inspector Francesc Xavier Boya also explained that the afternoon brought challenges when a wildfire in central Catalonia broke out, forcing resources to be redirected to the new emergency. “We couldn’t afford to face tomorrow with two large fires, so the strategy was to allocate whatever was needed to the new fire,” the inspector explained. …The affected forested area is full of ravines and valleys, making access very challenging.