OLIVE PRESS COSTA BLANCA
SHOCK DECISION TESLA has put a halt to expansion plans in Valencia after a drop in two-thirds of its European sales. The cancellation comes as a big blow to the region’s economy, as many jobs previously promised will now not be created. It comes after Tesla sold just 1110 units in Germany in July, a 55% drop in its largest European market. Meanwhile, in the UK, there was a 60% fall in sales, to just 987 cars shifted so far this year. Tesla has become mired in a series of controversies under Elon Musk’s helm, and stands to lose its previous dom- inance in the world of electric vehicles.
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Jávea · Moraira-Benitachell
RUN FOR IT! FRIGHTENING: Fire fighting service Infoca issued this dramatic photo of people running from flames at El Burgillo
Tourist rental purge THE Valencian government has removed 11,952 holiday home rentals in the last 12 months from its official registry. The figure was announced exactly a year after a new law came in to purge tourist lets without a cadastral reference number or tax identification number (NIF). Over 7,000 more removals are planned before the end of 2025 to complete the total clean up of the approved tourist rental registry. Since the decree came into force last year, 8,579 new tourist units have been registered - almost double the number of the previous period. Between January and July 2025 alone, 4,688 homes were added, with the bulk - 3,391 - in Alicante province, 1,506 in Valencia and 791 in Castellon. The Valencian Community currently has 94,259 officially registered tourist rental properties.
AT least two people have been killed in wildfires that are devastating large tracts of the country. Arsonists are likely behind at least three of the eight major blazes that have so far razed hundreds of thousands of hectares this month, including a UNESCO world heritage zone. One person died near Madrid trying to save horses while a 35-year-old volunteer firefighter became trapped while cutting firebreaks near Nogarejas. Police are now probing the fires that have seen thousands of people evacuated from the suburbs of Madrid to the protected coastline of Cadiz. The second fire in a week between Tarifa and Zahara de los Atunes was ‘definitely’ started deliberYOUR REAL ESTATE AGENCY FOR BENISSA, CALPE, MORAIRA ately, according to author966 112 428 · areacostablanca.com ities. TOLDOS / AWNINGS
Arson, death and mass evacuations as wildfires rage across the nation – 98,784 hectares destroyed and counting The blaze that has seen 2,000 people evacuated as it ripped through over 300 hectares of protected woodland in the Parque Natural del Estrecho, is no doubt arson. Fire investigators discovered it had been ignited in a hidden spot behind a rock, a location chosen to make detection difficult. Andalucia minister Antonio Sanz branded the act ‘malicious’ and warned those responsible will face the full weight of the law. Drones have now been put up all along the stunning Costa de la Luz coastline in an unprecedented effort to catch the culprits before any more harm is done. The horror deepened 600km away in Avila, where a firefighter has extraordinarily confessed to sparking a massive blaze ‘to give himself more work’. That inferno destroyed 2,200 hect-
ares, forced two towns into total lockdown and put hundreds at risk, before the man who lit it joined efforts to extinguish it. In Leon, the historic Roman gold mines of the UNESCO-protected Las Medulas area were engulfed in another suspected arson attack. The fire forced the evacuation of 1,400 people as fierce heat and winds created ‘fire whirls’ that even seasoned firefighters struggled to contain. Meanwhile, entire towns in Ourense province were emptied as flames devoured more than 7,000 hectares of forest, while other blazes continue to rage in Zamora, Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid’s outskirts. More than 8,000 people have spent nights in shelters, unable to return home. The scale of the destruction is staggering.
So far this year, 199 forest fires have burned 98,784 hectares - more than double the 42,615 hectares lost during the same period last year, when 219 blazes were recorded. This year’s figure is already higher than the totals for 2023 and 2024. The worst recent year came in 2022, when a catastrophic 306,000 hectares burned. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called the situation ‘serious’ and appealed for extreme caution, as forecasters warn that high winds and blistering temperatures will make the coming days even more dangerous. Officials say arsonists could face lengthy prison terms and multi-million-euro compensation claims for the environmental destruction and the massive emergency response costs. The crisis is part of a wider European firestorm, with neighbouring Portugal enduring its worst wildfire season since 2022 and southern France hit by its largest blaze since World War II.
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