There were at least half a dozen of uncontrolled forest fires in Mallorca over the last three to four weeks. More than 950 hectares of countryside were destroyed in the areas of Artà, Sant Llorenç, Santa Margalida, Calvià, Estellencs and Capdepera. The biggest of the fires was the one between Artà and Colònia de Sant Pere with an extension of some 375 hectares. The Bomberos de Mallorca (fire brigade) and the Unidad Militar de Emergencias (Military emergency service) came in with around 80 people, two firefighting planes and one helicopter and finally managed to extinguish the flames in one place, only to be confronted with the outbreak of another fire, somewhere else on the island.

All appears well at the moment in Mallorca’s woodlands but, the authorities are concerned that the dry and hot weather over the last few months makes the countryside susceptible to wildfires. The Consell de Mallorca has issued fire warnings on a yellow alert level. Please watch out, be careful when out and about and be vigilant. If you see smoke anywhere, please ring Emergency Services on 112. Don’t worry about your language abilities; they understand English as well.

The photos (top and centre) were taken near Artà, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: July 23rd, 2011. The time was 16:06:19 and 16:05:26, respectively. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of diariodemallorca.es and the photographer. It was taken near Maria de la Salud.

Muchas gracias.