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Wildfire in southern Spain forces evacuation of 70 residents

MADRID (AP) — Spanish authorities said Thursday that they evacuated 70 people from their homes to ensure their safety as a wildfire burned unchecked in southern Andalusia.

Emergency services for fighting wildfires in the Andalusia region said that heavy winds with gusts as strong as 80 kph (50 mph) have fanned the flames that broke out on Wednesday in Tarifa near the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

The residents were evacuated from the settlement called El Chaparral as a precaution. Authorities said had scorched some 50 hectares (123 acres) in hilly terrain close by.

Five units of firefighters battled the fire with the support of seven aircraft, authorities said.

Spain led Europe in land burned last year during a record hot 2022 that government officials and independent experts said was a product of global climate change. A prolonged drought has authorities concerned that the wildfire season is starting earlier than usual after the country endured its first major fires of the year in March.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2021