Nearly 300 firefighters are fighting a huge forest fire in eastern Spain, which has destroyed nearly 10,000 hectares in the Valencia region. AFP reports.

The fire began when the blaze struck the Val de Ebo area in the province of Alicante late Saturday evening, and since then it has spread rapidly, driven by a strong wind, which has forced the evacuation of some 1,000 people.

"Over 9,500 hectares have now burned." The fire can be characterized as absolutely great", - said in the statement of the regional authorities.

According to officials, firefighters in other areas of the region are also struggling with two other forest fires on the coast of Valencia, involving hundreds of firefighters and at least 10 fire-fighting aircraft.

Further to the east arsonists in the Aragon region are trying to take control of another great fire which broke out on Saturday, resulting in the burning of over 6000 hectares of land, causing at least 1500 people to abandon their homes.

According to the latest data from the European Forest Information System, there were 391 forest fires in Spain this year caused by high temperatures and dryness which destroyed a total of 271,020 hectares of land.

Figures show that this year's fires in Spain were particularly severe, destroying more than triple the area of 84,827 hectares of forest burns in 2021.

Fires occurred throughout Europe, particularly in France, Greece and Portugal, making 2022 a record year for forest burns on the continent.

In Portugalía, a forest fire that took control last year struck again on Tuesday in the UNESCO-listed Serra da Estrela Natural Park.