Igualeja breathes more easily after a night surrounded by fire: 'We’ve had a real scare'

“At first it was heading towards Igualeja and the residents were very worried. We had a real scare.”

It has been a long night in this small village in the Alto Genal region, in the heart of the Serranía de Ronda and very close to the Sierra de las Nieves. Igualeja has 728 inhabitants according to the latest official figures, although the mayor speaks of a population of "around 800 residents".

The village is nestled in a predominantly wooded landscape, surrounded by hills, vegetable gardens and chestnut groves, and situated next to the source of the River Genal - a landscape where, in the early hours of the morning, every shift in the wind has posed a threat.

“You have to experience this for yourself: your biggest concern is your local people,” summed up Vázquez. The mayor spent the early hours of the morning with the councillors and municipal staff, monitoring the spread of the flames and touring various points in the surrounding area. “We haven’t slept a wink. We’ve been skirting the fire all night,” she said.

The main concern was that the fire might spread towards any of the residential areas outside the village centre: “What worried us was that it might reach an area with homes.” In the end, only one family in the Coto area had to be evacuated as a precaution.

The municipality remains under lockdown to restrict movement while firefighting operations continue. “We have imposed a travel ban for their safety,” explained Vázquez. The road linking Igualeja with Ronda remains closed, as do the Coto and Toril tracks, two of the country lanes that run through the area surrounding the village.

El Toril is of particular importance to the village. The track links the area with the A-397 and is one of the routes used to transport the harvest during the chestnut season, one of the characteristic crops of the Alto Genal region. Together with El Coto, it forms part of the network of tracks and paths that wind through the hills surrounding the town centre.

“The problem is that we are surrounded by the fire, which is circular in shape,” the mayor said. Overnight, the wind changed direction several times, making the work of the teams on the ground particularly difficult. Gusts reached speeds of between 50 and 60 kilometres per hour at times, following sustained winds of between 30 and 35 kilometres per hour. It was precisely the direction of these gusts that set off alarm bells when the flames began to close in on the town.

Igualeja is not part of the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, although part of its municipal area falls within the Peripheral Protection Zone. In this predominantly forested area, the local council had stepped up its prevention efforts in recent months.

According to the mayor, the council has invested 125,000 euros in clearing work, particularly in Las Cruces, one of the areas affected by the fire. Vázquez acknowledged, however, the limitations of these measures when the fire spreads through pine forests and the wind is blowing against it: "If there are pine trees, the fire will spread even if the area has been cleared."

After spending the early hours of the morning monitoring the spread of the flames practically minute by minute, the situation now allows for a little more peace of mind, although the fire is still active and the restrictions remain in place.

Vázquez was keen to acknowledge the work carried out throughout the night by the personnel deployed and by those who have remained in the municipality: “We must thank Infoca, the provincial council’s fire brigade and the municipal workers.”