What is the fire risk in your municipality? The map of Catalonia, municipality by municipality

BarcelonaCatalonia faces a much better water scenario this summer than in recent years, but this does not mean that the risk of fires is lower. Abundant rains, especially during winter, have allowed water reserves and the water status of the territory to be recovered. Reservoirs have filled up, forests have been recovering from the historic drought, and vegetation has grown strongly after months of generous rainfall.

However, this same growth of vegetation brings a less positive consequence. With the premature arrival of high temperatures and the lack of rain in recent weeks, a large part of the vegetation cover has been drying out rapidly and has become a large amount of available fuel in case of fire. This means that, despite the territory being much less dry than in recent summers, the potential for a fire to gain intensity remains high in many areas, especially in the interior of the country.

A clear example is the serious forest fire burning in the area of La Bisbal d'Empordà (Baix Empordà) which is advancing uncontrollably, fanned by the heated tramuntana wind. The heat accumulated for so many weeks has left the forest drier than normal after a rainy period like the one we have experienced in the last year. Furthermore, the wind has greatly reduced humidity, and the heat is intense, with temperatures reaching 34 ºC. A perfect combination to generate a large fire and make extinguishing efforts very difficult for a fire that has reached the Gavarres massif and has already burned more than 1,000 hectares.

In this map, updated daily, you can consult the fire danger level of your municipality, which is high or very high in many regions.

To this situation is added another key factor: extreme heat. Since the end of May, Catalonia has been experiencing extraordinarily high temperatures for this time of year, with several episodes of intense heat that have culminated in a heatwave in recent days. High temperatures accelerate the drying of vegetation, reduce environmental humidity, and create more favorable conditions for any ignition to quickly turn into a forest fire.

How many hectares have burned this year?

This year, 121 forest hectares have already been burned in Catalonia – data up to June 30 – with a total of 271 fires declared. A figure of burned land that is currently better than, for example, last year, when during the heatwave between the end of June and the beginning of July, a large fire occurred in Ponent that razed more than 5,000 forest and agricultural hectares.

In fact, last year was the worst in the last decade in terms of burnt area. If we add forest and non-forest areas, 10,000 hectares were scorched. In the following graph, you will find the forest hectares burnt each year since 1970, with 1994 being the worst year for burnt area, followed by 1986. The data does not yet include the figures from the large fire in La Bisbal d'Empordà. The significant investment made for years in Catalonia for fire prevention and extinction is helping to ensure that recent years are far from the catastrophic figures of the eighties and nineties, especially regarding the number of fires.

With global warming and the climate crisis, summers are starting earlier and are increasingly dry and hot in our region. Episodes of intense heat are more frequent and can cause increasingly devastating and fierce fires, thanks to the extreme meteorological conditions that are generated. These are known as sixth-generation fires.

The combination of abundant vegetation and persistent, premature heat creates a scenario that forces extreme vigilance. Catalonia is entering the summer with more water than in recent years, but also with more fuel in the forests and a lot of heat. Factors that will mark the evolution of this year's fire campaign.