Formentera's corps of firefighters were joined by Balearic forest service agents and civil protection volunteers as they battled a simulated forest fire near a plot of land called sa Roqueta.

Four firefighters and a forest service worker were on hand for the exercise, which began at 12 noon and had finished by 2.00pm. It included six service vehicles—two from the fire brigade's fleet; one from the civil protection force, equipped with a trailer carrying the force's mobile command central; and three belonging to the forest service.

The exercise was aimed at improving preparedness and coordination in wildfires requiring a joint emergency service response.

Swelling forests have so far followed a particularly wet winter, making such speed- and coordination-enhancing exercises all the more important. As a fire safety measure, fires are prohibited in rural and wooded parts of the island from May 1 to October 1.