12,000 hectares destroyed by fires in Andalucia this summer

FOREST fires have destroyed over 12,000 hectares in Andalucia this summer, an area over six times bigger than 2011.

Nearly 200 forest fires have broken out in 2012 including the recent blaze in Malaga which destroyed over 8,000 hectares.

Last year just 2,000 hectares burned, while the worst year of the last decade was 2004, when a total of 53,000 hectares were destroyed including one fire which tore through a colossal 30,000 hectares.