To break the trip from basque to Porto, we had an overnight stop in downtown Leon.

The trip unfortunately took us through the Leon district wildfires during a thunderstorm. Late afternoon saw the sky turn dark orange and it looked as though we were heading straight for the apocalypse.

As we arrived in Leon, the sky had followed us and it rained ash as we tried to navigate the satnav and the old city walls with its one ways and pedestrian streets. Staying downtown didn’t seem such a good idea at this point but eventually we navigated our way to the old hospital hotel.

The sky brightened up as we headed out for dinner in the old town that became busier as we were finishing our dinner of tapaas and another chicken and chips for the kids.

Experiencing the fires highlighted the severity and impact for the region, not only in terms of the safety but the impact on people’s livelihoods as the area impacted is unbelievable.