Although we use Lújar in the title, the fire is no longer restricted to the area around the village: Los Carlos, Rubite Olías & Fregenite were also evacuated.

The total number of people evacuated ascended to 624, with 80 from Los Carlos, 120 from Rubite, 12 from Olías & Fregenite and another 12 from  casa rural, Valavero, together with the 400 from Lújar. The residents of Rubite were transferred to the sports pavilion in Órgiva, as Rubite is part of their municipality.

Today, when the Editor and I drove along to Castell, the main pail of smoke could be seen to the north east (Rubite/Haza de Lino), whereas Lújar is to the north-west from there.

We spoke to Ali the Veterinary Surgeon in Castell, who lives in Los Carlos and he explained how they had been evacuated – the villages from that hamlet have since been allowed to return.

We saw two, twin-engine water-bomber aircraft (Canadir) flying repeatedly between scooping water from more or less in front of Motril Port, before dumping it on the fire zone, which has six fronts burning.

The Ministry sent in a total of five of this type of water-bomber, bringing them in from Málaga, the Torrejón airbase in Madrid and from Talavera la Real in Badajoz. Also sent to tackle the fire was a Kamov helicopter from its base in La Almoraima (Cádiz).

The six fronts that were active last night were two in the Conjuro area, one in Jolúcar, another near the aerial masts on the Sierra de Lújar behind the village and two near Rubite.

As for Lujar, houses on the outskirts have been damaged by fire, and nearby cortijos have gone up in flames.

The fire had first been spotted in the Conjuro area (where the wind farm is) and before long a dozen aircraft were deployed, but the constant wind shifts made it impossible to contain the fire.

A specialized unit from the Spanish Army (Unidad Military de Emergencias) has also been drafted in, comprising of 25 soldiers and eight vehicles

The heat is incredible, even during the dead of night and at least a couple of villagers have been treated for burns – not from contact but from the very heat of the air (flama) – in mobile field hospitals down on the coast (the parking area of Restaurante Lecrín on Playa de Cambriles.

Imagine what the firefighters are having to cope with…

Perhaps the saddest thing about this fire – and all of these fires are sad – is the damage being caused to the 500-year-old cork-oak forest. The Lújar Town Hall has been trying to have that area recognized as a park in the hope of attracting a bit of green tourism, but that hope probably lies amongst the ashes of those irreplaceable trees – irreplaceable in our lifetimes, at least.

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(News: Lujar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photos: infoca/MoD)