Maximum risk of forest fires across Catalonia

The heatwave hitting Catalonia this week has led to the forest fire alarm being raised to its highest warning level this week.

Rural Agents have raised the forest fire prevention plan to the highest level, level 4, in a total of 131 municipalities across 15 different counties.

Access will be restricted to various parks and natural spaces, such as Montsant, Tivissa-Vandellós, Cardó-Boix, Baronia de Rialb and Ribera Salada.

The counties where the forest fire risk is activated are located up and down the Catalan territory: inland north, central, and south. 

In addition to the 131 towns in the highest level 4 of the forest fire prevention warning, there are an additional 212 Catalan municipalities from 25 different counties which are in the second-highest level 3.

The Montsant mountain range, located in the Priorat county in southern Catalonia, is a particular area of concern for authorities, with the highest number of municipalities in level 4.

The inspector of the Tarragona Regional Area of ​​the Rural Agents, Andreu Momblan, told the press that people are "increasingly aware" of fire risks.

Faced with this dangerous situation, authorities are increasing the number of personnel that will be on call to deal with any situation that arises.

The Fire Department is planning to call in some off-duty firefighters to be on reserve.

The government has asked the public to take extreme precautions and avoid fire risk activities in the natural areas. In level 3 and above, lighting fires in open spaces and the use of pyrotechnics are prohibited.

In level 4, camping, sports routes, and sports activities in natural forest spaces are also suspended.

Activities linked to summer camps, rural accommodations, and sports campuses in natural forest areas must be carried out indoors or in their immediate surroundings, provided that forest fire prevention measures are in place.