Fire quelled, historic mosque‑cathedral in southern Spain stands safe
The historic Cordoba monument survives a sudden blaze
Firefighters struggled to contain flames that erupted behind the iconic mosque-turned-cathedral in Cordoba, saving it from a catastrophic loss.
Morning of the emergency
- At around 9:00 PM local time a sudden inferno broke out inside the centuries‑old structure.
- The new wave of smoke and heat was captured in widely shared videos, sparking alarm among the two million visitors the site welcomes each year.
- Initial reports from the fire brigade confirmed the blaze was under control but had not yet been fully extinguished.
Official reassurance
Mayor José Mara Bellido declared on Cadena television that the monument was safe. “There will be no spread, it will not be a catastrophe,” Bellido told viewers, easing fears that the medieval gem had been doomed.
Historical background
The building, a jewel of Islamic architecture, was erected as a mosque on the site of an earlier Christian church between the 8th and 10th centuries by Abd ar‑Rahman, an emir of the Umayyad dynasty.
- Following the Christian reconquest of Spain in the 13th century under King Ferdinand III of Castile the structure was converted into a cathedral.
- Subsequent architectural alterations over the following centuries have blended Muslim and Christian elements into the present façade.
Recent clues to the cause
ABC and other newspapers reported that a mechanical sweeping machine likely sparked the fire at the site, echoing the 2019 Notre Dame incident that ravaged the French cathedral.
