Spain’s Aragon region deployed what authorities called the largest firefighting arsenal in its history on Sunday as French reinforcements were due to help contain a wildfire that has threatened a 1,000-year-old monastery.
The blaze broke out on Monday and had approached the two monasteries of San Juan de la Pena, a symbol of the northeastern region, perched in mountainous, rugged terrain.
The oldest monastery, linked by legend to the Holy Grail, has origins in the 10th century and contains the remains of the first kings of the medieval kingdom of Aragon, which were rescued on Thursday.
A complicated week marked by unpredictable winds and high temperatures saw the flames spread across 16,600 hectares (41,000 acres) and prompted the evacuation of more than 1,000 people from surrounding villages.
The regional government reported “a night of positive work” on Sunday as firefighters “managed to consolidate a large part of the perimeter”.
They would be reinforced with the arrival of 100 French firefighters and the participation of between 35 and 40 aircraft, it added in a statement.
Existing reinforcements from the army and other parts of Spain would take the total to 1,000 firefighters, which regional leader Jorge Azcon said was “the largest deployment of resources against a fire in Aragon’s history”.
“We’re facing the day with optimism, but also with total caution,” he wrote on X.
In the southern region of Andalusia, authorities allowed hundreds of evacuees to return home after a wildfire that has raged for 10 days and affected more than 25,000 hectares was declared under control on Sunday.
Like its European neighbours, Spain has suffered several spells of extreme summer heat, which contributes to ideal conditions for wildfires.
Scientists say climate change, driven by humanity’s burning of fossil fuels, is increasing the length, frequency and intensity of such extreme weather.
In late July, a wildfire just dozens of kilometres west of Madrid became the largest in Spain’s recent history and triggered a national emergency.
