MADRID, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The forest fire on the borders of the Donana National Park, southwest Spain, which began on Saturday night has been brought under control, Spanish media report on Tuesday.
The fire, which led to the evacuation of 2,000 people on Saturday night saw around 50,000 people stranded at the beach resort of Matalascanas as roads were temporarily closed on Sunday, had spilt into three focal points, two of which were brought under control on Monday.
Over 200 firefighters worked through Monday night to establish a perimeter around the third focus of the flames, which was considered to be under control at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
They are now working to ensure any hotspots not to reignite in the coming hours.
Authorities have allowed those who were evacuated on Saturday and Sunday to return to collect their belongings.
Juan Pedro Castellano, director of the Donana National Park told Spanish TV network RTVE that he was optimistic the effects on wildlife would be limited, explaining the flames had not reached the heart of Donana which houses over 400 species, including the threatened Iberian Lynx and Iberian Eagle.
Meanwhile, Jose Fiscal, environment spokesman for the Andalusian Regional Assembly, said it had been a "big forest fire" and "one of the most important that had been registered in the province of Huelva," although he didn't give details of the number of hectares affected by the flames.
The blaze comes barely a week after a wildfire claimed 64 lives in neighboring Portugal, with authorities so far not ruling out a human cause, either accidental or deliberate.
