Forest fires have burned 90,000 hectares in Spain this year, facing the worst-case scenario in a decade in relation to the fire caused by intense heat waves across the country. Amid the destruction, the country's iconic cultures are hit, such as wine production.

Scientists have warned that the heat faced by Europe is a clear sign of global warming, pointing to climate change that alters the distribution of rainfall on the continent, leaving the Iberian Peninsula with a dry and relentlessly hot summer.

In Spain, Reuters agency accompanied last Sunday (17) wine producer Jesus Soto in an inspection of one of his properties, after an episode of forest fire in the region of Avila. A whole hectare of the vineyard was burned.

"A fire is always terrifying because it kills everything around it and the feeling is horrible. The sensation, the smoke, the smell... There is a feeling of total destruction," said the producer. With tears in his eyes upon sighting charred vineyards, Soto says he should halve the number of bottles produced this year.

Soto, with the help of his daughter Belen, a 24-year-old winemaker, has spent more than a decade revitalizing agricultural land in the region, which has land at an altitude of 700 to 1100 meters above sea level, which guarantees the local characteristic of wines.

Scientists claim that the increasingly dense vegetation in the Mediterranean belt is fueling the fires. This week, WWF and BirdLife met with the Spanish government advocating a shift in focus from firefighting to prevention and proper forest management.