The Junta's MP for the Environment, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, chose the exact point that this devastating fire broke out to announce that work would begin to restore the affected area.

He was accompanied by another Junta bigwig for the province, Marifrán Carazo, and the Director-General of Política Forestal y Biodiversidad, Giuseppe Aloisio, as well as the mayors of the municipalities affected by the fire.

The Guájares fire was the biggest one this summer in the province, wiping out 5,504 hectáreas spread across five municipalities and at time approaching dangerously urban areas.

This emergency work has a budget of 3.5m euros and will set out to protect 1,450 hectares of mountain side against torrential rain. Restoration work, which started a couple of days ago, is divided into four areas and should be concluded within nine months. The first area comprises of 465 hectares of public mountain land on Pechos de La Galera, within the municipality of Los Guájares.

The second area comprises of nearly 351 hectares in the area of the Puerto de La Toba (municipality of Albuñuelas) and El Valle (Municipality of El Valle).

The third area comprises of 405 hectares is on Cerro Chinchirina (Municipalities of El Pinar & El Valle) as well as Las Llanadas (El Pinar) and private land within Los Guájares.

The last area comprises of 228 hectares of public mountain land around Guájar La Vieja (Los Guájares) and the Venta de La Cebada (El Pinar).

(News: Guájares/Valle de Lecrín, Granada, Andalucia)