Bryan Adams opened the Cap Roig Festival on Thursday night in Calella de Palafrugell, on the Costa Brava, as the wildfire in Les Gavarres continued to burn inland and emergency authorities urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel to the area. For residents of Calella de Palafrugell, Calonge and other nearby towns, the contrast was stark: a major summer concert went ahead while other municipalities cancelled local events and confinement orders remained in force elsewhere in Empordà, the region of northern Catalonia around the fire zone.

According to Protecció Civil guidance reported by El Periódico, people were asked not to travel from Barcelona to the Costa Brava because of active forest fires. ARA reported that Cap Roig, an open-air amphitheatre set in botanical gardens above the coast, proceeded as normal despite the emergency a few kilometres inland in the wooded Gavarres hills between Girona and the coast.

Adams asked the audience for a round of applause for the firefighters tackling the blaze, according to ARA's report from the concert.

The ARA report said smoke was visible from Calella de Palafrugell as dusk fell, leaving a grey and reddish haze over the horizon before the concert began. It also said the audience included tourists and holidaymakers, while surrounding towns under restrictions cancelled their own programmed events in line with official recommendations.

Travel warning and confinement orders remained in place

The wildfire began in the Baix Empordà area and spread into Les Gavarres, a large forested massif inland from the Costa Brava. In a separate report, ARA said the fire had confined 45,000 people across several municipalities as it entered the Gavarres area.

By Friday morning, the affected area had reached about 2,300 hectares, according to democrata.es and El Periódico. COPE reported that Catalan president Salvador Illa had requested help from the Unidad Militar de Emergencias, Spain's military emergency unit.

  • Protecció Civil advised against unnecessary travel to the Costa Brava from Barcelona on Thursday.
  • ARA reported that 45,000 people were confined as the fire spread through Empordà and into Les Gavarres.
  • By Friday morning, reports put the affected area at roughly 2,300 hectares.

For readers planning journeys to the area, the practical advice remained simple: limit unnecessary trips and check official updates before travelling. Live information on restrictions and civil protection alerts is published by Protecció Civil and the Generalitat emergency portal.

Homes affected in Calonge and Les Cabanyes

While the concert venue itself was not in the path of the fire, the wider emergency was already affecting residential areas. ARA reported that several empty homes were affected in Calonge and Les Cabanyes.

El País reported that the fire reached houses in a residential development in Calonge on the Costa Brava, and El Mundo said one house and a farmhouse were affected, with no injuries reported. The public advice was still to limit unnecessary journeys while firefighting operations continued.

Reported by Source Text Link, Inés Sánchez, written by Lorraine Williamson, Aniol Costa-Pau, Sara Fontserè, Laura Santos, Yolanda Bernal, Eva Batlle, Tony Di Marino, inspain.news, larazon.es, Carles Couso, elmundo.es, democrata.es, euronews.com, NTM, Diari ARA.