Fire at Andalusian National Park Doñana under control

The Andalusian forest fire extinguishing service (Infoca) declared the wildfire that in the Rincón del Membrillo area of Almonte, within Doñana National Park, under control. Crews are still monitoring the fire to keep it stable and prevent further spread.

The fire started at around 10.15pm on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 100 members of the Infoca service were still working on the ground with six fire engines, four harrowing tractors and other units, including medical professionals.

Already on Tuesday, regional emergency minister Antonio Sanz announced the stabilisation of the fire, which continued to burn primarily on the left and right flanks of the central axis. Sanz also confirmed that the fire had a perimeter of over 300 hectares, but not all of it has been burned.

"The fire (...) doesn't have the capacity to spread outwards. When I talk about the right flank and the left flank, the right flank is the marsh and the left flank is the beach. Therefore, any spread that might occur is towards an area where the fire will eventually subside," Sanz said.

According to Sanz, the fire was intentional. What points to that are "the characteristics, the time, the day and the area".

The Doñana biological station-CSIC expressed concern that the fire could damage the "enormous ecological value" of the area, endangering biodiversity.