Bordalo II has once again critiqued current events through his art. This time, the artist created a piece focusing on the wildfires ravaging the North and Center of Portugal.
The images, later shared on social media, depict a traffic sign with a burnt map of Portugal. The Portuguese artist captioned it: “Responsibility, presence, and minimum competence…”.
Shared on Sunday, August 17, the post has garnered over 20,000 likes and more than a hundred comments.
This is not the first time Bordalo II has criticized the management of wildfire response in Portugal. Previously, he created a matchbox in the shape of the country.
Notably, five fires remain active on Monday, August 18, in the districts of Bragança, Guarda, Castelo Branco, and Viseu, with the fire in Covilhã, which began in Piódão, deploying the most resources. Nearly 4,000 firefighters are involved in the operations.
Portugal has been affected by multiple rural fires since July, particularly in the North and Center regions, amid high temperatures that led to the declaration of a state of alert since August 2.
On Sunday, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Maria Lúcia Amaral, announced the extension of the alert level due to the heightened risk of fire until midnight on Tuesday.
The alert, initially declared on August 2, had already been extended until midnight on Sunday, now in effect for another 48 hours.
The fires resulted in two deaths, including a firefighter, and several injuries, most of which were minor, and destroyed homes, both primary and secondary, as well as agricultural and livestock facilities and forest areas.
Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which two Fire Boss planes are expected to arrive on Monday to aid in firefighting efforts.
Provisional official data indicates that as of August 18, 185,753 hectares have burned, surpassing the total area burned in the entirety of the previous year.
