Gredos Mountains on fire

[mount_oregano]

The LiveJournal userpic accompanying this post comes from a photo I took a couple of years ago in a friend's back yard. She lives in Arenas de San Pedro, a town in a valley in the foothills of the Gredos Mountains, 75 miles/120 kilometers west of Madrid.

Here's the whole photo:

Here's a photo I took of the same mountains, among others, from a nearby park, with Arenas de San Pedro nestled in its valley.

Now three fires are burning in the beautiful old pine forests in the valley. They were discovered at midday Tuesday, and last I heard, they're not yet under control. They're believed to have been intentionally set. Since Tuesday I've been seeing the smoke on the horizon here in Madrid. This summer, the risk of fire is especially high across almost all of Spain.

Here's a photo from yesterday, taken by the Ministerio de Ambiente, of San Pedro de Arenas and its valley:

So far, my friend is fine. Here's her blog:
http://dontconfusethenarrator.wordpress.com/

— Sue Burke