Wildfire in Spain's Valencia Spreads Over Nearly 47,000 Acres

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The wildfire ravaging the Bejis municipality in Spain's eastern autonomous community of Valencia has spread over 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres) on Friday, almost twice as much as the day before, local authorities said.

"There are already 19,000 hectares affected," regional ministry of justice, interior and public administration said on Twitter.

The Bejis wildfire started on Monday, forcing the evacuation of more than a thousand people. As of Thursday, the wildfire covered around 10,000 hectares of land.

On Tuesday, a train operated by a railroad company Renfe en route from Valencia to Zaragoza had to make an emergency stop due to the wildfire in close vicinity to the tracks. The train driver decided to return to Valencia, but some passengers panicked and attempted to exit the carriages. As a result, at least 15 people were injured.

Besides the Bejis wildfire, Valencia was scorched by another blaze, which began last Saturday in the Vall de Ebo municipality in the province of Alicante. Difficult terrain and strong winds contributed to its rapid spread. The fire covered around 13,000 hectares of land, with aviation used to put out the blaze. The fire was reportedly contained on Friday.

Many European countries have been experiencing extremely high temperatures in the past several months. Some countries have been impacted by droughts, while others are dealing with massive wildfires that engulf thousands of acres of land.