STORY: Firefighters were alerted about the blaze near Villanueva de Viver in the region of Valencia just before 1 p.m. (1200 GMT).

Ten airplanes were fighting to put out the blaze, which had forced the evacuation of the villages of three villages. More than 1,000 people were forced to leave their homes, Cadena Ser reported.

Emergency services said they had set up a refuge for 600 people and a field hospital.

Winter 2022-23 in the northern hemisphere was the second warmest on record and unusually dry, EU scientists said on March 8. In western and south-eastern Europe it was drier than average over the winter, while the month of February saw record low levels of soil moisture in some areas, the scientists said.