Dilip Kuner
KING Felipe and Queen Letizia have wrapped up their three-day tour of Spain’s fire-ravaged regions with an emotional visit to Extremadura.
The royal couple were welcomed with chants of ‘¡Viva los Reyes!’ and ‘¡Viva España!’ as they arrived in the mountain village of Rebollar, home to just 200 people.
Locals lined the streets to greet them alongside top officials, including regional president María Guardiola and Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The visit came as firefighters continued to battle the Jarilla inferno, which has already torched more than 17,000 hectares of land – the biggest wildfire Extremadura has ever known. Authorities warn it may not be fully extinguished until the end of September.
In Rebollar, Queen Letizia stole the show during a light-hearted moment with a local woman cradling her newly adopted dog – poignantly named Fuego (‘Fire’).
But the mood quickly turned serious as the royals sat down with residents, farmers, beekeepers, and small business owners from across the Jerte Valley to hear about the devastation, the economic hit, and the fight to rebuild.
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From there, Felipe and Letizia headed to Cabezabellosa – the first village to be evacuated when the flames swept through. There they met exhausted crews from the military, Guardia Civil, Civil Protection, Red Cross, and fire brigades who battled day and night to save lives and homes.
The tour will end in Hervas, where the King and Queen will hold a summit with mayors from the hardest-hit towns to discuss recovery plans and future protection measures.
The Extremadura stop follows earlier visits to Castilla y Leon and Galicia, where the royals were also greeted with applause and cheers as they showed their support for communities devastated by this summer’s firestorms.
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