In the area of tourism alone “we are talking about more than 2.7 million euros in direct losses, either because there were cancellations”, or because there were “people [who] left their own tourist accommodation”, the mayor told the Lusa agency.

Of this total loss of 2.7 million euros in tourism, "0.1 million were in returns from people who left early due to the fire; 0.4 million in cancellations and 2.3 million in physical damage" of tourist accommodation affected by the fire.

Despite still being in the final stages of surveying the losses caused by the fire that “affected a very high number of economic activities” in the municipality of Odemira, district of Beja, Hélder Guerreiro said that the overall amount could be around 10 million euros.

“If in tourism it is 2.7 million euros, I believe it could reach 10 million euros in terms of forestry, land use and [destroyed] houses”, he estimated.

“We now needed to add up some of the damage, including from the City Council, which had a very large set of signs [destroyed]. It won’t be much, but it’s still something from the point of view of material losses,” he said.

Speaking to Lusa, the mayor revealed that one of the biggest concerns lies in “some homes” where there was a “complete loss” of the property and whose residents “need to have support now”.

The “agricultural and tourist sectors” also suffered “a very large direct loss” and “emergency solutions were needed”, he pointed out.

With regard to the forest, the socialist mayor revealed that it is necessary to assess the damage caused by the fire last August, but also the “work to be done in the future so that the forest mosaic is more resilient and capable of not spreading fires of this kind dimension".

The fire, which started on August 5th, was reported to be under control at 10:15 on the 9th, six days after it broke out in an area of bush and pine forest in the Baiona area, in the parish of São Teotónio, municipality of Odemira.

The burned area amounts to around 8,400 hectares, within a perimeter of 50 kilometers.

Related articles: