'When you see the flames, you want to leave,' says mayor of town affected by Paüls wildfire

Aldover is one of the towns affected by the wildfire in Paüls, southern Catalonia. Its mayor, Rosalia Pegueroles, talked about the "impotence" residents of Aldover face as "they cannot do anything" as the flames getting closer.

The town is mainly located in a forested area, although one family living in an isolated house was evacuated. The situation became more difficult on Monday night when the Mistral (northwesterly) wind strengthened with gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour.

"When you see the flames, you want to leave, regardless of the fact that firefighters say not to move," Pegueroles said. She added that obeying the emergency services is crucial and urged residents not to leave Aldover.

"The wind went against us," she said as flames continued advancing from the town of Xerta to Aldover. However, no personal damages have been reported.

One elderly Aldover resident said the fire was a "disaster" and unprecendented. 

"We were awake all night. I'm an old man, I'm over 80, and I've never seen anything like this here," said Àngel Verge.

Another resident, Pilar Bonavila, explained how they were worried about having to evacuate as they don't have a car.

"We stopped a police car and they told us: 'Don't worry. If anything happens we'll come and pick you up,'" she said.

Tortosa

Meanwhile,  Jordi Jordan, the mayor of Tortosa, the major city in the area, urged residents to respect the stay-at-home orders. 

Tortosa has the areas of Jesús and Bítem under confinement. It also had the neighborhood of Remolins locked down, but the restriction was later lifted. "All these areas are under confinement as they are close to the fire; however, flames have not reached our town," Jordan said.

The Paüls wildfire has already burned over 3,100 hectares, according to preliminary data released by firefighters and rural agents. It started burning on Monday at midday, and experts had hoped to see an improvement in the wind from midday on Tuesday.

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez urged residents to "follow officials' recommendations" and showed his solidarity with those affected by the wildfire in Paüls in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Paüls, Enric Adell, said the town is worried when the wind changes, as "if we cannot control it on time, this afternoon we can have difficult situations in Paüls and Alfara," he said.

There is no cellular signal in Paüls, and the city council is making announcements to remind residents not to leave their homes. The streets are empty, and only ADF rural agents and city council workers are visible.