22.45: Third post of the day.

Well, the noose of fires which last night encircled the city of Pontevedra appears to have loosened somewhat. But there’s still a pall of smoke over the city – albeit slightly higher than this morning – and there are still fires burning on the mountain to the south. My friends in the village up there have had two sleepless nights and are preparing for a third, amidst rumours and fears that the wind is about to bring the flames back again.

Today’s national and local newspapers naturally carry numerous reports and articles on Galicia’s latest tragedy. As one of them says, the only common ground is that most of the fires are not accidental and that tough treatment should be meted out to those responsible. Thereafter, opinion is divided as to what is going on and what should be done about it. Left-wing papers major on the alleged criminal element and right-wing papers on the negligence and stupidity of a coalition government which simply wasn’t ready to deal with the crisis, partly because it had weakened its fire-fighting capabilities for the doctrinaire reasons I cited earlier.

What is clear is that fires are nothing new to Galicia; they visit us every summer, though not usually as extensively and as simultaneously as this year. And it also seems clear that the phenomenon is pretty unique to Galicia and North Portugal, even though [as Fernando has pointed out] there are extensive forests in other parts of northern Spain.

What should have been clear is that Galicia was a tinderbox waiting for the fatal combination of a few sparks and weather conditions propitious for the rapid spread of flames. This is because more and more of the region has been given over to profitable plantations of oily eucalyptus trees which – because of their own demands for water - produce a very dry undergrowth. If this is not cleared – either because the people have left the land or are too old to do this – the result is simply widespread kindling waiting to be lit.

Almost everyone seems to believe most of the fires were deliberate but few seem to understand how such extensive damage could result from the actions of a handful of people whose interests would be served by a small fire. In the circumstances, it hardly matters whether these were madmen or farmers aiming to secure more pastureland for their grazing animals. Or even greedy property developers hoping to get land re-zoned for building. As it happens, one informed observer puts the blame squarely on Galician farmers but, then, everyone local seems to have a favourite and I simply wouldn’t know. Since it’s not going to stop, what really matters is plans for preventing the rapid spread of fires and for dealing with them if these measures fail.

As for the future. . . Well, near term, the weather forecasts are not encouraging – at least another week of sun, high temperatures and dry winds from the north east; a central information number has finally been set up; the regional government is now deploying troops to assist the fire-fighters, though not in any fire-beating capacity as they won’t have been trained in this until next summer; and the leader of the opposition has suggested a national emergency centre that would make a better fist of dealing with large-scale tragedies than the local governments.

Meanwhile, 5 or 6 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting fires. Only one of these has been kept in custody so I suppose the other four will be lucky to escape lynching.