MADRID, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Wildfires burned 57,697 hectares of land in Spain in the period since Jan 1 to Aug. 11, according to data published by the Spanish Ministry for Agriculture, Food and the Environment on Monday.
The figure is 3.2 times the amount of damage caused by wildfires in 2018 (which was a much wetter than average year) and the fifth worst in the last decade.
2012 is the worst year with wildfires in Spain with 165,160 hectares burned in the first seven and a half months of the year, followed by 2009 with 92,911 hectares, 2017 with 78,502 hectares and 2015 with 70,127 hectares going up in flames.
The ministry reported that the period until August 11 saw a total of 8,302 wildfires, which is more than the total of 7,910 fires for 2018 and almost twice the number of 4,201 recorded in the same period last year.
5,359 of 2019's wildfires were brought under control or burnt out before they had destroyed a hectare, while 11 damaged an area of over 500 hectares.
Over half of the 57,697 hectares affected (33,970) were mountain and open woodland, while 15,374 were full woodland and the remainder pasture and farmland, with 52 percent of the fires in northeast Spain, 30 percent in the center of the county and 16 percent along the east and south coast.
These figures do not include the wildfire which is currently causing widespread damage on the island of Gran Canaria.
Local authorities reported that over 6,000 hectares, including parts of the Tamadaba national park, have been destroyed by the fire, which began on Friday for reasons which have yet to be uncovered.
Meanwhile around 9,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the face of the rapid spread of the flames, which has been helped by temperatures over 30 degrees centigrade, high winds and low humidity.
Around 700 firefighters with the aid of 11 helicopters and five aircraft are currently fighting the fire, which has a perimeter of around 60 kilometers.
