A devastating fire that broke out on Monday in the municipality of Paüls, in the province of Tarragona, has worsened dramatically overnight. Fueled by hurricane-force wind gusts of up to 90 km/h, emergency services are fighting a seemingly impossible battle against the flames. The situation is so severe that the Catalan government has had to request the support of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) to tackle the disaster.
Gale-Force Winds and Fears of a Wind Shift
The wildfire remains out of control and has already destroyed an area of over 2,899 hectares of valuable forest and land. A massive contingent of 86 ground units and around 280 personnel are working tirelessly on the front lines. Additionally, nearly 18,000 residents have been advised to stay in their homes as a precaution.
A major concern for Enric Adell, the mayor of Paüls, is a potential shift in wind direction. If the cold Mistral wind changes to a warm, humid “Marinade” wind, it could cause the right flank of the fire to explode—an area with particularly dense forest mass that would provide new fuel for the flames. The fire department confirmed that containment lines were breached at several points during the night. Desperate attempts to prevent the flames from crossing the Ebro River into the Sierra de Cardó have so far been unsuccessful.
Hola chicas, en las Terres de l'Ebre (Tarragona), está pasando una desgracia y hay pocas ayudas, hay poca información y además hay poca visibilidad al problema.
— julia.0nline ݁⋆☾ ⋆ (@userrjjuliaa) July 8, 2025
Los pueblos vecinos están sufriendo un incendio grave que va avanzando a gran paso, ¡queremos visibilidad y ayuda! pic.twitter.com/ZeMuGZbsWb
Smoke Plume Travels Hundreds of Kilometers, Triggering Alarms
The effects of the fire are being felt in regions far away. On Tuesday morning, a dense smoke plume reached several municipalities in the Murcia region and the Vega Baja del Segura, over 400 kilometers south of the fire. The coastal city of Torrevieja in Alicante woke up to an eerie haze and a pungent smell of burning, causing significant alarm among the population. The 112 emergency call center received over a hundred calls from concerned citizens.
Explosions in the Inferno: The Explosive Legacy of the Civil War
Adding to the terror are reports from residents in Tortosa who have repeatedly heard explosions during the fire. These detonations are from buried bombs and projectiles from the Spanish Civil War. The affected area was once the scene of the bloody Battle of the Ebro. Fire department sources consulted confirmed that it is “common” to hear explosions from old munitions during fires in this region, as they are detonated by the extreme heat.
