Catalonia to send firefighting crews to help with wildfires across Iberian peninsula

The Catalan government is sending around fifty firefighters, six trucks, eight light vehicles, and three aerial vehicles to help fight the wildfires that have been burning across the Iberian Peninsula in recent days.

They are scheduled to head to Extremadura and stay there until Friday.

Catalan president Salvador Illa had announced this morning that they were making themselves available to the affected regions, and expressed condolences to the family and colleagues of the firefighter who died during extinguishing work in León, the fourth such fatality in Spain due to the fires this month.

The executive leader also pointed out that they are still very much aware of the situation in Catalonia after historic high temperatures were recorded over the weekend, with a very high risk of fire still in place.

Authorities are keeping restrictions in place due to the high risk, such as closed access to nine natural spaces.

To learn more about the history of wildfires in Catalonia and its strategy to tackle them, listen to this episode of our podcast Filling the Sink.