🔗 Share this article

A local honey producer stands on a slope near the remote village of Porto de Sanabria.

He indicates the precise spot where an electrical storm hit a few weeks before, triggering a wildfire with disastrous effects.

"This season has been a nightmare for me on a personal level, but also for regional agriculturists and everyone in the village," he explains. "Having lived 47 years and I've never experienced a fire that intense."

It ended up consuming in excess of 20,000 acres of land and causing numerous of people to be relocated from communities in this agriculturally rich corner of north-western Spain.

However, it represented just one of several extensive blazes which have ravaged Spain this season, destroying 0.8% of the country's surface area.

The most heavily affected regions were here in the north-west, including the regions of Castilla y León and Galicia, plus the western region of Extremadura.

Effects on Beekeeping

Beekeeping, which is an important industry in countryside the northwestern territories, was one of the key sufferers of the summer.

Thankfully, his own hives are unharmed, because the fire ceased just metres away from the fields where he houses them.

"I project that this year I'm going to lose 50% of my honey production, without a doubt, because of the fires, and the following year the same, or even worse," Mr Bruña says.

The lack of physical damage to his hives means he does not qualify for insurance.

He is contemplating moving many of them to different areas, in the aim of bettering the bees' prospects of survival and lessening his future losses.

Livestock Farmers Similarly Harmed

Many livestock farmers have also been forced to move their animals in the past few weeks, both to avoid fires and to make certain they can access untouched pasture.

"The situation was dire for farmers [this summer], it was one fire after another," says a cattle farmer from a border village.

His losses include around 30 livestock this summer, most recently having to put down 11 animals which had endured severe burns.

"These events has had a big monetary impact, but the greatest impact of all is that we lie awake at night," he notes. "It is a constant anxiety."

While farmers look forward to receive insurance compensation, he suspects there will be a secondary cost.

"They may pay us, but next year, rather than costing us, for example, €5,000, insurance premiums will amount to €10,000 or €15,000," he warns. "Because insurance companies don't want to lose money."

Monetary Impact and Tourism Declines

The COAG national farmers' association assessed in August that the industry had suffered damages worth at least €600m.

The biggest costs have been destroyed fields and properties and losses of animals.

Another main economic sufferer of this summer's fires has been tourism, which accounts for 13% of Spanish GDP.

Although most of the beach destinations which are tourism escaped fires this summer, the southmost province of a tourist hotspot was an anomaly.

Moreover this summer's main wildfire zones, in the west and north-west, have fostered rural tourism in recent times.

Sanabria Lake, the largest glacial lake in the the peninsula, is a major local draw.

Yet the expansion of the fire that began in Porto de Sanabria in the middle of August caused it to be shut down.

"During the peak season, this area was at maximum occupancy in terms of tourism," says Miguel Ángel Martos. "And then, on 18 August, it fell to 10% of capacity."

Among visitors this was problematic. But for many locals it meant financial catastrophe.

"The administration has said it will pay me €5,500," he says, laughing bitterly. "It will be necessary to come up with some other kind of compensation because I was opposed to close, they forced me to."

Larger Community Repercussions

The past few months has emphasized the notorious schism between urban and non-urban Spain.

A long time of movement from rural areas to cities means that 90% of the Spanish population now inhabits just 30% of its land.

The rest has become known as depopulated Spain, where a scattered population has often voiced discontent about a shortage of infrastructure.

These blazes, which have been particularly uncontainable this year, only worsen that discontent.

"It is challenging as it is to survive because of the price of animal feed and fuel – every day it's more challenging for farmers to survive," he says. "And then on top that, this occurs."