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The fire at the waste recycling plant at El Ejido continues, and firemen say that the fire is expected to burn until tomorrow evening.

The fire started two days ago when a huge mountain of waste caught fire, and firemen have been unable to put it out so far. A helicopter and two fire teams have been damping down the area around the fire.

Firemen explained that due to the immense heat inside the mountain of waste, even if they extinguished the flames it would self ignite, and they are concentrating their efforts on ensure flames do not spread while it burns itself out.

It’s estimated that about 10,000 meters of rubbish is burning away, mainly recycling and garden waste.

A large fire is raging at the end of Mojacar Playa.

The fire is between Los Amigos and the hotels at the end of the Playa.

I am told that emergency services have evacuated the area and are trying to control the situation.

At 11:30pm the fire was behind both end hotels but it appears that so far it has not spread to any more buildings. Use the comments box to update us with news.

Photo courtesy of Luke Polansky:

It appears that Babel, the first beach bar in the row outside the Mojacar campsite, burnt down tonight.

See story: Mojacar beach bar Babel burns down.

Just in from the Junta, via the townhall.

Around 4,000 ha were burnt in the fire. 600 civilians plus the military were involved in putting it out.

They have confirmed that one house has been gutted by fire, but refused to confirm further damages. No injuries have been reported.

Two fires remain but are both reported as being under control and expect to be put out before nightfall.

Here are some photos sent to me by John Furley, taken early this morning.

I should stress that now (12.51) only a few plumes of smoke from the other side of the mountain are visible, but plenty of planes and activity still going on. The road to Cortijo Grande is still closed, although a number of private cars have been escorted to the entrance where they are waiting, so it may be that house owners will shortly be allowed back up.

Cabrera, taken by long range lens. When blown up, you can see a lot of greenery is still there, so it seems as if the main place is OK.However, in this one you can still see a house burning. The houses below it also look a bit damaged, although it may just be soot.

John also sent this photo, taken around 16.00 yesterday, of the smoke coming off the mountains. He was just outside the Blue Lagoon on Mojacar Playa.

Keep sending in those photos, they may be used in The Reader!

I had over 1,046 more visitors in 8 hours yesterday than I normally receive, and have received around 30 emails asking for more information on the fire.

I can’t really get into specifics with individuals over the email, but I’ll keep posting what little I know here.

Currently, the police are still making safe the area and won’t let anyone up. According to Local Police, if all goes well and the fire experts say OK, house owners may be allowed back up this afternoon.

I’ll keep skulking around the area and as soon as they let me up I’ll come back with some more photos and updates.

If you have any decent photos of the fire or aftermath, send them over and I’ll post them.

There was also a small fire in Sorbas, which was extinguished by helicopter, and at around 12:30 last night the La Parata area of Mojacar was evacuated due to another fire. Police refused to say if these fires were started deliberatly.

The main bulk of the fire is out, although it is still burning away up in the mountains.

The Guardia are still not letting anyone up into Cortijo Grande, although the Turre – Los Gallardos road has reopened.

Over 2,000 heactacres (20 square km) was burnt, according to media reports. It has been confirmed by an eyewitness that Finca Listonero was burnt, along with a number of cortijos close by. El Almeria newspaper says that around 20 cortijos were destroyed.

The flames did come down very close to Turre, and several fire breaks were made by the army just outside the town.

The fire reached a level 2, and a battalion of troops (around 120) were deployed to the area overnight to protect Turre and Mojacar, along with heavy earth moving equipment.

While the troops have been stood down, local media report that aerial units are still trying to extinguish the fires blazing up in the mountains.

No idea what´s happened to Cabrera, but the flames seems to be all around it.

These photos are taken from near the Turre road, in front of the Cortijo Grande entrance (near the bridge).

You can see how hard the wind is blowing:

Reports reach me of a family leaving their house as it caught fire, and as they rushed from the fire had a nasty accident. House was in flames, apparantly, although this reached me third hand.

Guardia are refusing to allow anyone up to Cortijo Grande, even the TV who are congregating around the entrance. Dad, who wandered over, got interviewed by Andalucia Directo. A number of cars full of possessions have been fleeing the area.

Canal Sur says that 300 houses in the mountains have been evacuated so far.

The fire started in Cerro de la Mezquita and has spread rapidly.  53 fire units have been assigned so far, as well as two amphibian aircraft, three normal planes, an overall command plane, four helicopters and two large capacity helicopters.