“Ovejuela is still green”, insist the inhabitants of one of the districts of Pinofranqueado, the area where the Hurdes fire originated. The proximity of the flames forced the evacuation of dozens of residents who, after this weekend, have already been able to return to their homes. Now they fear that the destruction of the landscape that surrounds the entrance road to the town will harm their businesses, most of them linked to rural tourism. “There may be clients who cancel reservations,” laments Victoria Rodrigo, owner of two rural houses in Ovejuela (Cáceres). The 61-year-old from Cáceres says that now they have to reinvent themselves, since the routes and trails that lead to the waterfalls –the biggest tourist attraction in the area– have been affected by the fire.
The small town (118 inhabitants), located in the heart of Las Hurdes, is located in a valley surrounded by mountains and thick vegetation. A good part of the forest that can be seen from the only access road has become a tree cemetery. The smell of burning can still be perceived. The fire calcined more than 10,000 hectares, which represents a quarter of the total hectares that have burned this year, according to data from Copernicus, the Earth Observation Program of the European Union.
Victoria comments that she has already warned her clients of the “horror” they are going to find when they cross that entrance road. But she insists that not everything has been burned: “The jewel in the crown, which is ‘El Chorrito’ – a waterfall near the town – has been saved.” According to the woman from Cacereña, this excursion is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. In addition to the rural houses in Victoria, in the town there are other businesses whose owners feel the same uncertainty about expectations for the future.
This is the case of José Luis Hernández, owner of the only restaurant in Ovejuela. Hernández opened the doors of the grill nine years ago and assures that he had never experienced anything like it. An important part of its income comes from tourists who come to enjoy a few days surrounded by nature. From the restaurant window, one can see the contrast between the green of the trees –mostly pines– and the black of the ashes left by the fire. “This is full on weekends,” says Hernández, adding that now we just have to wait and see what happens in the next few days.
Inside the town, the devastating effects of the virulent fire are not appreciated. Only in a poster hanging on the worn wall of a house announcing that a campaign event of a mayoral candidate that was to be held on Thursday, May 18, the day after the fire broke out, has been suspended. . For the rest, the orchards and gardens of the stone houses maintain the bright colors of spring.
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A group of neighbors arrives at Hernández’s restaurant. They present themselves as “the young people of the town”. They sit down to have a beer and begin to wonder when nature is going to be restored. “I say in two years,” says Sergio Sánchez, 39, who was born and raised in Ovejuela. He recounts that he had already lived through another fire in the town when he was nine years old: “We put it out ourselves, the flames warmed us from how close they were.” The group agrees that the worst is over. Their evacuation was especially arduous because they blocked the road and were trapped inside the town. After spending all Thursday night in suspense, they managed to escape the next morning. Now they are focused on getting on with their lives and running their businesses, even though a part of the landscape still reminds them of the tragedy.
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