00:03Welcome to The Cube, Euronews' Fact-Checking Show.
00:06As Spain battles devastating wildfires, another challenge has emerged online,
00:12prompting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to warn people against sharing misinformation.
00:17One widely shared image claims to show the front page of Spanish newspaper El País,
00:22reporting that the government cut more than half of its funding for wildfire prevention.
00:27But comparing it with the newspaper's genuine front page shows the image has been fabricated.
00:33Its cover on the 24th of July shows an interview with former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,
00:40and there is no evidence El País published the claim.
00:43Another theory shared across platforms claims the fires have been deliberately started to clear land for solar farms.
00:49Several posts spreading online point to an official document authorizing a solar farm
00:55in the same area as one of the deadly wildfires in Los Gallardos.
00:59This document from Spain's official state gazette is real,
01:02but the plant itself is not located in Los Gallardos.
01:06Instead, it was planned for the municipalities of Lucainena de las Torres and Sorbas,
01:11around 35 kilometers from Los Gallardos.
01:14So far, Spain is examining a fallen electrical cable as the likely cause of the fire,
01:20with no evidence linking the blaze to plans for a solar farm.
01:24These theories aren't new.
01:25Similar claims have resurfaced after previous wildfire seasons,
01:29with posts alleging that blazes were deliberately caused to clear land for renewable energy or construction projects.
01:36But Spain's forestry law prohibits changing the use of burned forest land for 30 years,
01:41meaning that fire-stricken land cannot be turned into development projects,
01:45with some specific exceptions if in the public interest.
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