Catalonia wildfires: Lladurs 'controlled', Olivella 'stabilized' but others still active

Firefighters continue to tackle a number of wildfires burning across Catalonia after a week of extremely high temperatures.

In an update on Sunday morning, the Catalan fire service declared the forest fire in Lladurs, Solsonès, to be "controlled", around 24 hours after they declared it "stabilized".

Forest fires can be considered to be in one of four phases: active, stabilized, controlled, extinguished.

The emergency services had been particularly concerned about the Lladurs blaze because it had the potential to expand to 50,000 hectares.

Both the fire in Lladurs in western Catalonia, along with one in nearby Altés – now deemed stabilized – had "very unstable perimeters," according to the fire brigade.

Artesa de Segre

The Artesa de Segre fire, which first broke out on Wednesday, is still active, after wind complicated efforts to stabilize it on Saturday.

Work is continuing on several fronts, especially in Sant Mamet and near Alòs de Balaguer, the Catalan government's delegate in Lleida, Bernat Solé, explained on Saturday evening.

Horta de Sant Joan and Olivella

A new fire has been declared in Horta de Sant Joan, Terra Alta, in the south of Catalonia, although it has already been stabilized.

An additional air crew is set to join the 17 ground crews and single aerial crew already present there.

Meanwhile, the fire declared yesterday afternoon in Olivella has also been stabilized, after burning 186 hectares of Parc Garraf, a natural park near the coast, south of Barcelona.

Two residential areas – Can Surià and Les Colines – were locked down in order for the fire service to tackle the blaze, but, according to the mayor, Marta Verdejo, residents were not in danger at any point.