Two weeks in Spain - part 2

Date: 05 September 2012 08:53:21

Like Wildfire.

Which was the problem. BBC news was carrying news of wildfires spreading through the Costa del Sol on the day before we were due to fly out to that area, Which worried us. Was the holiday planned nine months ago in danger of going up in smoke? The news said they were evacuating a town just 7km away. A call to the resort told us there was nothing to worry about. Other than it was believed that the fires had been started deliberately. My confidence in human nature had been dented. On arriving we found that everything was OK. The fires were now under control, still a good distance away, and would soon be out. Nothing to worry about.

Everything is fine?

Until you looked at the little details, on the stairs to the swimming pool there were traces of ash in the corners, stairs which had obviously been recently cleaned. At least there was no sign of anything in the apartments or their balconies, but the fires had obviously been closer than the reasuring people at the resort were admitting. The story continued at the church on Sunday. Talking after the service to a couple who had flown out from the south of Ireland nearly a week earlier and were staying up in the hills was a different matter. They had watched the fire approach, and had evacuated themselves as things literally got too hot for comfort. Down in the resorts on the coastal strip they and others like them were sleeping in their cars. Cafés and restauants were being kept open by the owners giving coffee and water for free. Confidence in human nature restored.