Wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour were whipping Spain today, fanning wildfires, cutting traffic links and tearing roofs off buildings, news reports said. Winds were spreading five wildfires in eastern Castellon province, preventing the use of aircraft to extinguish them. A hospital and a residential area were being evacuated in Borriol as a precautionary measure, dpa reprted. Another blaze forced the evacuation of a military police barracks in southern Malaga province. Several flights between Almeria and London were cancelled, and sea links to the Moroccan city of Nador and to the enclave of Melilla were suspended. A ferry bringing 600 passengers from Portsmouth in Britain was unable to dock in the Basque port of Bilbao. The ports of Mahon and Ciudadela were closed on Menorca Island. Winds wreaked havoc around the country, uprooting trees, blocking roads, damaging windows and knocking over lamp posts. On Wednesday, windy weather had prompted the cancellation of more than 20 flights as well as the closure of the Sierra Nevada ski station and of Madrid's Retiro park. Tens of thousands of people were left without electricity in the Madrid and Basque regions.
