Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Dawn of a new Day]

Hi all, dawn in Canada. I am very saddened to hear of this tragedy. i have not looked at the site for a week or so, and i was shocked at what i was reading. Walking in the countryside was magical when i walked in may/june, i hope all those that are responsible are kept locked up.
my prayers are all with you to be safe.
dawn

[Peter Robins]

no of fires described as 'active' now down to 8. Arrests risen to 27.

Forecast for rain to sweep across Spain Wednesday/Thursday, though it may just be light rain like we've been having on and off for the past couple of weeks.

[Peter Robins]

latest estimate is that some 4% of Santiago district has been damaged by fire. Worst affected area to the west of the city, Figueiras-Vidan-Ames - which must be out your way, Ivar.
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/ed_santiag ... TO=5024573 http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/ed_santiag ... TO=5024578

And according to MeteoGalicia this summer is the driest since 1978.

[ivar]

Driest since 1978, 3 months with "no" rain (we had some drizzles one day a few weeks back I remember...). In and around Santiago it should be all normal today.... it has gotten colder since yesterday (have 20c now), so we are waiting for the rain they promised tomorrow. During the worst days last week we had 37c.

As for pilgrims, I think the province of Lugo "only" had a few fires so coming in on the camino Frances you will probably not notice anything until you reach the Santiago airport.

El camino Portuguese and the walk out to Finisterre is where you probably will see the fire-damage the most.

It would be interesting to hear from pilgrims out there how the situation is right now.

Un saludo,
Ivar

[Peter Robins]

with rain now falling on many parts of Galicia, the emergency is now officially over, though one firefighter, drafted in from Castilla La Mancha, is in hospital with 45% burns - condition described as serious but stable.

[Update 19.8: this man has now left intensive care.]

Area damaged by fire currently put at 80,000 hectares.

[ivar]

Yes it is raining, well it is more like 5 minutes of drizzle, 10 minutes of no rain, then 5 minutes of quite a lot of rain, .... Galicia weather.

It is actually quite good, they were worried that if it was to poor down, the drinking water would be contaminated by the ashes and that the ashes also would be washed down to the sea (in the rivers) and would kill seafood in the ocean... but with this drizzle it should be ok... I hope.

People in the streets are starting to smile again... this is good. Things come back to normal.

Un saludo,
Ivar

[Peter Robins]

reasonable rainfall yesterday, particularly in the worst affected western areas. Total damaged area now put at 3% of Galicia (of which 2.6% August 4-15), and much higher in the west (Pontevedra province 8.5%) than in the east (Lugo 0.2%).
Large nos of aerial photos here http://www.elcorreogallego.es/index.php?idNoticia=74634
According to the Xunta, 8,562 firefighters were involved, with help from France, Morocco, Italy, Portugal and Andorra, besides other parts of Spain.

[Peter Robins]

The Xunta's plan for reafforestation of the fire-affected places will favour indigenous species such as chestnuts, not the ubiquitous eucalyptus. There will also be stricter regulations governing how close forests can be to houses.
http://www.elcorreogallego.es/index.php?idNoticia=76499