The amount of land affected by forest, scrub and other fires last year was more than double the amount in 2015. There were 113 fires in the Balearics which affected 230 hectares, 37.5% of which were forest. A third was scrub, and the remainder was pasture and reed.
The environment ministry suggests that given the drought, the figures aren't too bad, but concedes that they aren't among the lowest. Nevertheless, the amount of damage was a third of the average for the past ten years.
Most of the fires (43%) were because of negligence or accidents. There were seventy fires in Majorca that affected 190 hectares, while Minorca had three fires that covered 37 hectares. In Ibiza there were 33 fires but these caused damage to only 1.2 hectares, a record low.
The largest fire in Majorca was in August at Ses Comunes in Petra (45 hectares). The next two largest were Albufera in February (36 hectares) and Sa Canova in Arta in the summer (23.4). All three were intentional.