Dozens evacuated as wildfire spreads on Spain-France border

Catalan civil protection officials said some 4,000 people were without electricity and that rail traffic had been suspended between Portbou and Figueres, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) to the south. The main road into Portbou and to the French border was also closed.

Firefighters said they evacuated more than 130 people as they fought Saturday to control a wildfire at Portbou on the Spanish border with France on the Mediterranean coast.

Firefighters from Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia teamed up with French colleagues as the blaze ravaged some 435 hectares (1,100 acres) of land, with an estimated 2,500 hectares threatened.

Local people were evacuated overnight from several villages as a precaution hours after the fire was declared to the south of Portbou, whose railway station connects Spain with France.

Catalan forest rangers said on Twitter, rebranded X, that an investigation was under way into the cause of the fire.

In a statement on the Catalan regional government website, they added the blaze "remains active" and that their priority was to prevent it encroaching on the nearby tourist resort of Llanca to the south.

Strong winds had helped the fire to spread overnight and prevented water-bombing planes from taking off to aid a firefighting operation complicated by the hilly terrain affected.

The Catalan fire service said it expected airborne operations to be able to start Saturday afternoon following helicopter reconnaissance beforehand.