Wildfire rages as firefighters brace for ‘critical hours’

Firefighters battling a wildfire that has already burnt over 1,200 hectares of fields and forests in Catalonia were bracing for "critical hours" on Sunday, with the blaze having the potential to affect 5,000 hectares.

The fire started on Saturday afternoon in Santa Coloma de Barberà, a municipality in the Conca de Barberà county, in the southern region of Tarragona.

The flames advanced rapidly and reached Bellprat, a village in the neighboring Anoia county, in central Catalonia, and could soon affect the municipality of Sant Martí de Tous.