Swede Joseph sees the forest fires in Málaga from the balcony

Forest fires are spreading more and more in Spain.

Swede Josef Netzler sees the fire from his balcony in Mijas but it has not yet been evacuated.

– It looked better for a while. But now it looks good, he says.

Several wildfires are currently raging in Spain. On Saturday, rescue services faced 35 fires. Two are stable, 14 are under control and 19 are active – five more than last Friday.

An alarming fire broke out in the municipality of Mijas on the sunny Spanish coast at lunchtime last Friday, country skriver.

Swede Josef Netzler, 33, has been living permanently in Mijas Golf for the past two years with his girlfriend and dog. A few miles from their home, they could see when the fire started on the other side of the mountain.

– We went out around 12-13. Then we saw our mountain, it was black white smoke and I saw red. It looked really bad.

Several thousand have been forced to flee their homes

So far, more than 3,000 people have had to evacuate their homes in Malaga, where Mijas is located.

– It’s a shame for those who live on the other side of the mountain. The houses are on fire and they have to drive out all the animals. For them, it is horrific.

Joseph and his girlfriend were able to follow the ongoing rescue work.

– They drive helicopters and planes. We saw maybe 7-8 pieces tossed with water and red powder to put out the flames.

Earlier on Saturday morning, the fire appeared to have subsided, but by now it should have picked up speed again and started to spread.

– They managed to get better for a while but now it looks good. There is a bigger and bigger cloud of smoke again.

Its prevalence increases with forest fires

This summer’s heat wave is causing more and more fires in the country, which Joseph has noticed since moving to Spain about four years ago.

– When we moved here, there was a small fire, but now there were many fires nearby. I think it got worse.

This is not the first time Joseph has encountered these fires and the previous one, two weeks ago, was much closer. Then it got so hot that they had to close all the windows.

– We saw the fire up the hill outside our house. Then it was strange to go to bed, because after that we felt the heat and the smell of smoke.

At the moment, there is no talk of an eviction in Yusuf district. They see from their balcony if the fire is approaching, which relieves anxiety.

– A little fire spilled from our side. It can, of course, spread if the wind shifts. But I don’t think there will be any danger to us, but you never know.