Zaragoza, Spain  - Spanish firefighters and soldiers were Wednesday battling a wildfire that consumed more than 1,500 hectares of pine forest and bush near Zaragoza in the north, local officials said.

Nearly 300 people living in the village of Castejon de Valdejasa were evacuated because of smoke, but later returned home.

The summer's first major wildfire was sparked by a car which caught fire in a traffic accident near Zuera.

High temperatures were hampering the firefighting effort. Temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius were expected in the provinces of Zaragoza, Murcia, Valencia and Alicante. (dpa)