The smoke from the fires ravaging Portugal has covered much of Galicia since last night and has tinted the sky throughout the day. The most affected populations by the smoke, which darkened the sky and painted the moon and sun an intense reddish color, are located in the south of the provinces of Pontevedra and Ourense, where a strong smell of burning spread. The mass of smoke pushed by the winds also clouded the sky in the province of A Coruña, especially in the south and the region of Santiago de Compostela. Although the capital of Galicia cleared up towards midday, a new change in the direction of the wind clouded the sun again in the center of the autonomous community in the afternoon.
According to sources from MeteoGalicia consulted by Europa Press, the explanation for the phenomenon that tinted the moon and sun red (and even a strong pink) is an “optical effect” in which the light from the stars and the thick blanket of smoke are involved. On social media, photos multiplied from the early hours of residents who looked out the windows surprised by the absence of light and an atmosphere similar to that produced by eclipses. Currently, the air quality in Galician stations is good, according to official information, and MeteoGalicia is monitoring in real time the PM 2.5 particles (which are formed with fires). “There are small fluctuations, but there are no warnings,” officials detailed from the institution dependent on the Xunta.
In this sense, the Government’s sub-delegate in Pontevedra, Abel Losada, explained (at the presentation of a new mobile application that allows to see in real time the air quality index) that this morning the air in the province was “good” in two stations and “reasonably good” in the other six. This, he specified, despite the nitrogen levels that rose from the early morning due to the smoke from the fires in Portugal. Meteored has explained, through its profile on the social network X, that the smoke extends over an area of 100,000 square kilometers over the Atlantic.
Currently, Galicia records four large fires still out of control that have consumed more than 350 hectares. The most affected municipality is A Gudiña (Ourense). Since last Sunday, more than 71,000 hectares have been burned in Portugal, making these episodes as serious as those recorded in 2022. The worst situation experienced in Portugal was in 2017 when the fires caused the death of 66 people, many of them trapped in their cars trying to escape the flames on a national road, where the lack of forest maintenance and cleaning had made it easier for the fire to jump from one side to the other.
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