REPORTING. “The aid was lamentable” … returning home, the victims of fires in Spain express their anger against the authorities

In the northwest of Spain. For example, almost all the inhabitants were able to return home, after being evacuated due to the fires that have ravaged the region since August 9. Additionally, For example, They are angry. Consequently, The help arrived too late, according to them. Furthermore,

Article written by franceinfo – Solène de Larquier and Éric Audra

Radio France

The last reception center in Ponferrada closed. However, This city of the autonomous community of Castille-et-Léon welcomed more than a hundred people for two weeks. Meanwhile, mainly coming from the villages of the neighboring mountains, where the lights were the most intense. Furthermore, Only the village of Peñalba de Santiago is still threatened by the flames. Moreover, The other residents were able to return to their houses.

Large parts of the mountain are now blackened. For example, A few pockets of forest resisted here and there but around the village of Bouzas, everything burned, reporting. “the aid lamentable” … Except the houses. For example, In the very calm streets, you can still see hanging colored flags. Furthermore, For example, “Friday, they were the employers’ holidays here”, explains Belarmino, one of the few permanent inhabitants of this isolated village. Moreover, He is still very marked by the fire. Moreover, “The fire came down from the mountain. Moreover, Moreover, People arrived and told us : ‘We can’t do anything, it’s out of control’. Therefore, So my family came. Meanwhile, We went to recover the cattle, because I am a breeder, the only one here. We took all the animals that we could and we got down. The fire advanced very quickly “.

The authorities then ask him not to go up but he fears for Bouzas. “Someone from the village rose on a motorcycle. He told me that there was no reporting. “the aid lamentable” … one here to fight and that the village was likely to set fire. We were five or six. We took the car, we went through fire-fire roads”, Raconte Belarmino.

“We fought, we were very little. Also, We really suffered, the fire came from all the fronts.”

Belarmino, breeder in Bouzas

in franceinfo

“I ended up telling my brother : ‘We have to leave’continues Belarmino. We dropped. I don’t know if the firefighters came back but it calmed down and everything was not destroyed. “

Coming back, he finds his house intact but not his breeding. “We found calves burned and I still miss cows. I have 57 years. At my age, it is impossible to accept that reporting. “the aid lamentable” … the 3 600 hectares I had, disappeared. I am a prisoner, I have nothing else to live. Livestock can no longer graze and I have to feed them. ” The breeder wants it to the regional government. “The administration did not manage the problem well. First the lights : those from above, on the mountain, were controllable. We had a bulldozer, there were patrols. But the help that came from the outside was lamentable ” he judges. In the village, some vacationers came to collect their belongings. They don’t want to express themselves.

San Cristobal, a tourist town located at 15 minutes of Bouzas, was also saved from the fire. Inside the coffee she holds. Pilar recorded a phrase on a blackboard in a blackboard : “May the fire go out but never lose the spark of life”, “In other wordsshe explains, Do not sink to something that can be resolved. “

reporting. “the aid lamentable” …

Pilar returned Tuesday after four days spent in a gymnasium. It is very happy that the village was saved. “I feel privileged, lucky. It is true that it is weird the feeling of the landscape that we still see burning. But it will regenerate. The whole village has gathered. We organized a kind of common life in the gymnasium and we discovered something beautiful between people, there was solidarity.” But, too, believes that there have been enough means to fight fires. “The help has arrived late. It is incredible that after 14 days, a village is still in danger. It is unlivable.”

“Peñalba de Santiago is the only village here to be evacuated. There, it is the inhabitants themselves who try to turn off the fire.”

Pilar. owner of a coffee in San Cristobal

in franceinfo

Justice reporting. “the aid lamentable” … has opened an investigation to determine whether the municipalities have committed their prevention plan well.

Peñalba de Santiago is a commune classified as a historic site. nestled in the heart of the mountain. reporting. “the aid lamentable” … The road leading to it is tortuous and the landscape, devastated. Summits to the bottom of the valley, everything is black. Some charred trees are still standing in places, only the road has been preserved. Then, suddenly, you can see smoke, the fire continues to progress opposite Peñalba, still intact.

In the deserted streets. the only noise we hear is the water that flows on the ground. Water spears litter the ground. A group of ten men, a firefighter and volunteer civilians, take turns to preserve houses with ornamental wooden balconies. Impossible to exchange with them, police ask us to leave. So we take the road in the opposite direction to descend into the valley. with this burnt smell which remains long after.