Spain's Forest Fires Could Affect Tourism
MADRID, Spain, August 14, 2006. Forest fires in Galicia in northwestern Spain could affect the region's tourism industry.
According to the Spanish Environment Minister Cristina Narbona, there are "too many fires, too many (followed one after another) and too close to residential areas," and stressed the "terrible damage" being caused to the local tourism industry. As of Saturday a total of 103 fires were still raging in Galicia, of which 54 were still spreading and 49 had been brought under control, according to EFE news wire.
Arson and negligence are to blame for most of the forest fires, which have killed three people and scorched more than 5,000 hectares (12,345 acres) in the past week.
A plague of stinging jellyfish along the Mediterranean coast could also affect tourism.
With regional officials in Murcia and Valencia complained that the Environment Ministry is scaring visitors about the arrival of swarms of jellyfish on Mediterranean beaches, where entering the water has become a high-risk activity for bathers.
The head of the Valencia regional government's tourism department, Milagrosa Martinez, said Wednesday that the "big jellyfish" was the environment minister herself for "constantly alarming" tourists with a message of "do not drink the water and there are jellyfish."
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