Smell of Portugal's forest fires reaches Madrid 300 kilometres away
August 17, 2022, 9:03 am

Smell of Portugal's forest fires reaches Madrid 300 kilometres away

Wildfires-Spain-Facebook

On Tuesday (August 16), the smell of burning from Portugal's massive forest fires reached Madrid, Spanish emergency services reported, as both countries battle the blaze, Euronews reported.

T the Madrid region's emergency services wrote on Twitter, after receiving 380 calls: "We have received many calls on Madrid-112 from citizens worried about the smell of burning and smoke: it is a fire in Portugal.”

A satellite image released by the rescue services shows a column of smoke spreading over 300 kilometres, the distance between Portugal and the Spanish capital.

Both countries, hit by drought and heatwave, are battling large forest fires.

The Serra da Estrela blaze, already the biggest of this summer in Portugal, has burned some 15,000 hectares, according to the latest provisional figures from the Portuguese authorities.

On Tuesday (August 16), the smell of burning from Portugal's massive forest fires reached Madrid.

The fire, which broke out on August 6 in the vicinity of Covilha in central Portugal, destroyed unique forest areas in the UNESCO-recognised park in the heart of the Serra da Estrela mountain range, which rises to around 2,000 metres.

While the civil protection service has been criticised for its operational management, Portuguese Interior Minister José Luis Carneiro pledged on Monday to launch an evaluation of the "structural causes" and the "method of fighting" the fires "once the Serra da Estrela fire is extinguished".

Climate change: 500 more wildfires recorded in UK this year than all of 2021

In the southeastern Spanish province of Alicante, 10,000 hectares have already burned and the fire, which spread after lightning struck the Vall d'Ebo on Saturday evening, has still not been brought under control. More than 15,000 people have had to be evacuated, according to the authorities.

In the region of Aragon in Spain's north-east, where more than 6,000 hectares have burned, firefighters seem to have succeeded in fixing the fire.

In Spain, forest fires in 2022 were three times more devastating than in the whole of 2021, when 84,827 hectares went up in smoke.

Over 4,000 hectares of land destroyed in wildfires in northwestern Spain

Portugal, which is experiencing an exceptional drought this year, had its hottest July in almost a century.

Since the beginning of the year, some 81,000 hectares have gone up in smoke, the largest area since the deadly fires of 2017 that killed around 100 people, according to the latest figures from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests.

Source: euronews

Volodymyr Zelensky creates Crimea liberation council Media says Turkish airstrike kills three Syrian soldiers

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”