Spain sees wildfires after 1st summer heatwave

The first summer heatwave in Spain has been followed recently by a wave of wildfires affecting different parts of the country, reported Xinhua. Among the affected areas were La Litera in the northern province of Huesca, where around 4,000 hectares have been affected, the northwestern region of El Bierzo, and parts of the province of Zaragoza. It has been confirmed that some of the fires were caused by lightning strikes. In Huesca, around 200 people had to be evacuated from their homes on Friday, while another 16,000 people were told to stay indoors due to a fire between Tiana, Sant Fost de Campsentelles, Martorelles and Santa Maria de Martorelles, close to Barcelona. The Catalan regional police force(Mossos d'Esquadra) confirmed on Friday that a man had been arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire near Barcelona. Temperatures dropped in Spain on Thursday and Friday after the first heatwave of the year, which saw record June temperatures in several parts of the country, with 43 degrees Celsius in Bilbao and over 45 degrees Celsius recorded in the southern province of Jaen. Temperatures are expected to rise again over the weekend. Madrid could experience a heat of around 39 degrees Celsius at the start of next week.