High temperatures continue to test firefighters. This Thursday afternoon was marked by the resurgence of the fire in Guimerà, in the Urgell region, which firefighters were able to stabilize again. The fire started burning on Wednesday at a quarter to nine in the evening and firefighters managed to stabilize it, but this afternoon it flared up again and forced the confinement of 21,000 people in total, including the entire city of Tàrrega.

When I returned from the United States and colleagues, future correspondents, came to ask me for advice for the day they could go to work there, I told them – and I tell them – that knowing American history or the political system of checks and balances is all well and good, but that the most important thing is that they be in shape. That they would experience a lot of heat and a lot of cold, that they would be subjected to extreme climatic conditions: scorching temperatures, monstrous snowfalls, and months with frozen sidewalks and without being able to have a coffee on a terrace, tornadoes, gales, that the electricity would go out, meaning the refrigerator and air conditioning. Or the heating… and that, in addition to suffering it, they would have to go and explain it on the front lines. And that if they didn't make themselves physically and mentally strong, it would be very hard for them.Well, this has already arrived here, in Catalonia. You only have to look at the records that are being broken these days:“Barcelona breaks its heat record in 113 years. The Fabra Observatory registers a temperature of 40.9 degrees”. In Vinebre, temperatures exceeded 44 degrees. And we have it for another week.It is not adventurous to think that the usual September downpours may be particularly dangerous this year, taking into account the amount of heat that the land and sea will have stored. All these extreme phenomena have a cost in health, physical and mental, in lifestyles, in leisure, but also, in the functioning of basic services and the maintenance of infrastructure. Increasingly, governments will have to drop everything they are doing to deal with emergencies and, in general, to adapt public spaces and services (streets, natural parks, schools, hospitals, residences) to the new climatic conditions. And us, too.

This initial formula of courtesy is today rhetorical as rarely. How are we? Overwhelmed by the heat, worried about the fires, and fed up with the weather forecasts, which put us on maximum alert for the heatwaves that we will still have to endure in the coming days.The fire in Les Gavarres is not yet out, and more have broken out..In the Anoia region, we had at first thing in the morning the most extensive of those that remain active. The Generalitat Firefighters declared it stabilized this Tuesday morning. This development has allowed almost all confinement orders to be lifted. The firefighters had worked to prevent the fire from crossing the C-15 towards Montserrat. In contrast, the Sentmenat fire remains active, although the head of the Firefighters believes that we have entered a phase of a certain de-escalation.Reinforcements are needed, and the Generalitat has once again called upon the Spanish army unit. And as soon as it was daylight, the air assets returned. The deployment is enormous: 56 ground crews in Sentmenat and about fifty more in Anoia, with the human toll that all this implies, especially when thinking that it is only the beginning of July.The Anoia fire has forced 33,000 people into confinement. Simultaneous fires divide human and material resources, and if they are not stopped, they may even force fire chiefs to decide which fire to prioritize. As we explain on this page, we must consider that, if fires continue to multiply, not all of them can be extinguished.Likewise, the Generalitat Firefighters are very clear: it is impossible to protect all the houses within forests, in developments. And since the principle that human lives come first and then material goods works, what is being done is to evacuate the developments and take people to a safe place, but we will talk about the houses later: it will depend on what can be done based on priorities, wind direction, accessibility, and all other variables. And let's see how Europe is doing:Numerous fires are affecting the south of the continent. Yesterday the fires were mainly located in the Iberian Peninsula, France and Greece, and had already burned 19,000 hectares in total.Yesterday we were talking about solutions, about forest management, about ensuring that farmers do not have to leave their lands, about equipping ourselves with a mosaic landscape of diverse crops that prevents fires from jumping through a continuous mass of vegetation, etc. I hope the parties understand the emergency we live in and are capable of reaching consensus to mobilize budgetary allocations and eliminate bureaucracies. But while this does not happen, there is another reflection to be made, about our individual responsibility. Fires test us as a society, in respecting restrictions, in following recommendations, in studying self-protection measures, in exercising solidarity, and in accepting that our world has changed and selfishness and bad moods will make everything even more difficult. Encouragement to everyone.Good morning.

It was expected to be a complicated week and the fire has not given respite since the first day. When the Generalitat Firefighters have not yet been able to declare the serious fire affecting La Bisbal d'Empordà since Friday under control, there are already three new fires burning simultaneously in the midst of a heatwave. The new fires broke out this afternoon in Sentmenat, in Vallès Occidental; in Artesa de Segre, in La Noguera; and in the region of Anoia, between the towns of Carme and La Pobla de Claramunt. The authorities have confined about 33,000 people from the south of Igualada and various towns in the Anoia region, as well as some urbanizations and scattered settlements between Sentmenat and Castellar del Vallès.

We start the week the same way we spent the weekend: pending the Gavarres fire. There are still people who cannot return home.

Piera, Sant Boi, Capellades, Òrrius, Gisclareny, Barruera... and so on up to fifteen fires of varying intensity across the territory, adding to the wear and tear caused by the fire that has been burning since Friday in Les Gavarres, in Empordà. That's why the Firefighters, who received more than 100 calls, issued a warning for the coming days, as long as the new heatwave that arrived yesterday, Sunday, in Catalonia lasts and is expected to continue until the end of the week. "We are entering a week in which we could have fires with speeds that exceed extinction capacity throughout the country," warned the Firefighters.

A virulent fire has forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 people this Thursday in Roussillon, in Northern Catalonia. There are nine minor injuries, including a minor. Most of the affected were staying in three campsites in the town of Canet-en-Roussillon and the beach has also been evacuated, in some cases directly by sea. The flames have crossed the campsites and have incinerated at least 256 bungalows. The fire has also reached the marina area and has burned at least one of the yachts moored there and a catamaran construction company.

New morning of chaos on the AP-7 due to two accidents involving trucks that have greatly complicated traffic. The accidents occurred near La Pobla de Montornès, in Tarragonès, and in Martorell, in Baix Llobregat, and are already causing kilometer-long queues.

The optimism expressed by the Firefighters mid-afternoon has been fulfilled and after 8 p.m. this Wednesday the forest fire that confined about 700 residents of Sant Quirze Safaja, in the Moianès region, to their homes has been stabilized, with about 16 hectares burned, mostly forest land. Although the confinement has been lifted, the population is recommended not to approach the place where the flames are still burning to facilitate the movements of the extinction teams.

Antonio has been living with his apartment propped up for four and a half months, right on Gran Via in Barcelona. At the end of January, the ceiling of his room collapsed due to water leaks, and the Fire Department recommended keeping the props in place until a definitive repair could be made. A few weeks later, the same thing happened in the hallway, and shortly after, in another essential room of the house, the bathroom. The property owner fixed his bathroom, but this week the props are still holding up the beams in the bedroom and the hallway.

Three fires are burning this Sunday in different parts of Catalonia. Firefighters are currently working to extinguish the flames in Cervià de les Garrigues, La Serreta, and Ponts. All three fires are, however, under control.

Firefighters are working with the hypothesis that the sixteen-year-old adolescent disappeared in Roses (Alt Empordà) while riding a jet ski would have lost his vest at some point and sunk. Now, rescue efforts are focused on tracing the coast along the southern part of Roses, up to Begur and Palamós. Drones have also been flown over the Medes Islands and GRAE divers are making dives between two and four meters, taking advantage of the "acceptable" visibility in the area. Firefighters plan to trace the coast by helicopter this Saturday from Roses to Begur before suspending the search for the young man. This Friday's search will stop when night falls and will resume tomorrow morning.

The Generalitat Firefighters have now controlled the fire at a fruit company in Lleida that began on Monday night and which forced the inhabitants of the Vila Montcada-Ciutat Jardí neighborhood, about 1,300 people, to be confined. The fire has burned the facilities of the Arcofrut fruit cooperative, which is next to another fruit cooperative. According to the head of the Lleida Emergency Region, inspector Juan Josep Bellostas, all evacuated people have been able to return to their homes and the deployment of up to 45 crews that was set up on Monday evening is now being scaled down. In total, eight crews will remain, with the command system and a drone team, while awaiting the complete consumption of all fuel.

Firefighters have managed to control a forest fire in Paüls, in Baix Ebre, where they continue to work with a dozen crews to extinguish it. The alert was received a few minutes before eleven this Thursday morning. Among the activated crews are members of the Forest Action Group (GRAF) and the Forest Active Prevention Team (EPAF), as well as a water-dropping helicopter.

Firefighters from the Generalitat (Catalan government) rescued the four minors trapped when the old Esparreguera Hospital collapsed in the Baix Llobregat region. The emergency call came in at 6:06 p.m., and within a short time, firefighters had rescued two of the teenagers inside the building. Two hours later, they were able to rescue the remaining two minors. The first two rescued minors were seriously injured and were taken to the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Esplugues with multiple fractures. The last two teenagers extracted from the building—who remained conscious and in contact with emergency services throughout the ordeal—were taken to the Martorell Hospital in stable condition.

Up to nine people have been hospitalized and another eighty injured due to the windstorm that paralyzed Catalonia this Thursday. The gusts of wind brought by the storm Niles Winds have exceeded 100 kilometers per hour in many areas, especially in the Barcelona region. After the worst of the storm, the Catalan government lifted the travel restrictions it had imposed throughout Catalonia, but continues to urge caution, and educational and university activities will remain suspended until nightfall. Non-urgent healthcare services were also suspended on Thursday. Despite criticism regarding the scope of these restrictions, the Catalan government maintains that they were "appropriate and correct" and that they helped reduce risks. The still-provisional tally of the storm's impact exceeds 3,400 fire department calls for wind-related incidents. Furthermore, the strong winds further disrupted public transportation, and also affected infrastructure such as El Prat Airport, leaving some areas without power. Regarding personal injuries, 86 people required medical assistance during the day due to wind-related incidents, according to the Medical Emergency System (SEM). Thirty-four people had to be taken to health centers, and eleven of the injured were treated in the Catalan capital. The most serious injuries affected the nine people who had to be hospitalized. The Catalan Health Department specified that two are in critical condition: a 46-year-old woman admitted to Vall d'Hebron Hospital after part of a roof collapsed on her in an industrial building, and a 22-year-old man admitted to Bellvitge Hospital after being struck by a falling tree. The young man is a Civil Protection volunteer, as is another man, 23 years old, who was also seriously injured and is now hospitalized at Bellvitge.

A woman was critically injured this Saturday at midday when a lamppost fell in Sabadell, according to reports from Civil Protection, the Generalitat Fire Department, and the SEM (Emergency Medical Service). The incident occurred on the promenade between Plaza Mayor and Calle del Pedregar, very close to the city hall. Rescue teams received the call at 12:39 PM. All indications are that this part of the streetlight fell as a result of... the severe stormsWhen the lamppost fell, it also caused minor injuries to a man. Both injured parties were taken to Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell by the Medical Emergency System (SEM), which dispatched three ambulances. Four fire crews from the Generalitat Fire Department worked to remove the fallen lamppost from the middle of the street and sealed off the electrical wiring to prevent further incidents.

The ground shook, and the tremor spread through walls and ceilings. Houses were reduced to rubble, and some of their inhabitants were buried under mountains of sand and stones. The epicenter of the earthquake was in northern Pakistan, a rugged territory of steep peaks where the scars of warring militias are part of the landscape. The first team to reach one of the affected areas was a group of Turkish rescuers, sent to provide aid where the Pakistani authorities could not reach. They set up camp, and the initial reports were difficult: there were victims trapped in the rubble. International regulations, established by the United Nations, stipulate that the first rescuers to arrive at a location were responsible for directing the operation and coordinating the teams from other countries as they arrived. A group of Catalans arrived, made up of firefighters from both the Generalitat and Barcelona. "Hello, how can we help?" one of them asked. He speaks in Catalan despite being in Pakistan and addressing a group of Turks.Sorry“?” the Turk replies. The Catalan smiles and switches to English. He smiles because he's not facing a Turkish rescuer, but a firefighter from Barcelona, ​​like himself, with whom he has shared many calls. They aren't in Pakistan either, although the freezing cold this afternoon feels like it belongs to the country at the Masia de Voltregà, in Osona. It's a drill, but everyone is taking it very seriously, to the point that they have to communicate in English, just as they always have when they've gone to help in Haiti, Morocco, Guatemala, Chile, or Greece. A nurse was left at airport customs – a supermarket parking lot – because she didn't have a necessary vaccine.

At around 5:30 p.m. this Wednesday, firefighters managed to stop the gas leak that had been operating on Nazaret Street in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat since this morning. The leak was detected at the intersection of three high-, medium-, and low-voltage pipelines. Shortly before stopping the leak, firefighters had warned that the situation was "very dangerous" because the leak had been active for more than six hours. Around 8:00 p.m., the situation improved, and firefighters declared the leak under control. Furthermore, the mayor of Hospitalet, David Quirós, confirmed that most of the 500 residents who had to be evacuated will be able to return home tonight, with the exception of ten families who will be able to do so tomorrow.

Soccer player Vinícius Junior's home in Madrid caught fire Thursday morning, according to several local and national media outlets. The Real Madrid player's residence is located in the La Moraleja neighborhood of Alcobendas, just over 20 kilometers from Madrid. The fire reportedly started in the basement, where the gym and sauna are located, which caught fire for reasons still unknown. No one was home at the time, and emergency services did not have to treat any injuries. In fact, the player is currently training with the Brazilian national team.