ANDALUCIAN HEATWAVE

It’s high summer and the temperatures have soared into the 40s. At this time of year, the droning of little yellow firefighting planes, carrying water to and from the big reservoirs in the north of the province to extinguish mountain fires, is not an unfamiliar sound.

So far this summer, Andalucia has been the region most badly affected by fires, and in Almeria there have been two serious fires during the last few days, both in the same region. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Mojacar, a popular resort, and on the TV news, there were startling pictures of the famous hill town silhouetted against a red wall of flame.

The airborne firefighting force comprises co-ordinating planes, helicopters carrying water, including some of large capacity, and a fleet of water carrying planes. On the ground are teams of specialists, fire appliances and experts from the environmnent department. Due to the professionalism of these forces, not to mention their remarkable bravery, fires are rapidly controlled and extinguished.

High up in the mountains of our area is a firewatch tower, permanently manned. From there, the beginning of any fire would be clearly visible. Obviously, the more quickly they are spotted, the easier they are to control. It ought to be mentioned that the worst fire ever in this region, in the Alpujarras, was started by a British person who made a bonfire in a densely forested mountainside. By coincidence, I was travelling from Granada to the coast when I saw the first flames devouring the mountainside.

Photos of my olive grove this morning

Our olive grove, which in spring was carpeted with wild flowers and lush grass, is now sparse stubble, parched tinder-dry by the ferocious sun. When we irrigate at night, the wild boar rootle around the bases of the trees for grubs and insects, churning up the damp soil as they do so.

Although we are experiencing a very hot and dry summer, thanks to the heavy snows which fell on the Sierra Nevada in this year’s unusually cold winter, the province of Granada has enough water to last a year, even if we don’t have another drop of rain.