Wildfire in Portbou stabilized after over 570 hectares burned
Blaze in Costa Brava still active due to 100km/h wind gusts
The strong north wind, Tramuntana, keeps firefighters at their feet after announcing that the wildfire in the Costa Brava town of Portbou had been stabilized on Saturday night.
Wind gusts of up to 100 km/h caused a small fire in the left flank to start, although authorities tackled the flames to control the situation at around 7:40 am.
Overall, the blaze has burned over 570 hectares in Colera and Portbou, two of the northernmost municipalities in Catalonia.
Minutes before stabilizing the flames at 9:30 pm on Saturday, authorities lifted the lockdown measure in place in those towns.
On Sunday, 19 ground units and two aerial ones kept working to control de flames. Meanwhile, the Catalan meteorological agency forecasted for the Tramuntana wind to regain force by night.
"The weather makes us cautious as Tramuntana will continue to blow during the whole afternoon," Miquel València, second in command in the firefighters' brigade deployed in the area, told media outlets on Sunday morning.
Rural agents locked down the area where the wildfire is thought to have started and believe it is human-made.
Flames started near the reservoir, a site with some buildings.
Not a first
The area had already suffered another fire in mid-April, originating in Northern Catalonia. On that occasion, 900 hectares were affected, 135 of which were in the Alt Empordà county.
The Catalan climate action ministry already warned of a very difficult situation and high risk of wildfires in the area, as well as in the coastline of the southern Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre zones.
Access to natural parks, such as Cap de Creus, has been recently restricted due to the high fire risk. In fact, Catalonia has restrictions in 44 municipalities due to the 'very high to extreme' risk of wildfires.