Thousands of firefighters, backed by soldiers and water bombing planes, have fought against more than 20 main forest fires that are unleashed in western Spain, where officials say that a record area or land has already been burned.
Spain and neighboring Portugal have been particularly affected by forest fires estimated by heat and drought waves, blamed for climate change, which have hit southern Europe.
Two firefighters were killed on Sunday, one in each country, both in traffic accidents, taking the number of deaths to two in Portugal and four in Spain.
The Chief of Civil Protection of Spain, Virginia Barcones, told Public Television TVE that 23 fires were classified as “Operational Level Dos”, which means that they represent a direct threat to the nearby communities.
The fires, which now enter their second week, are concentrated in the western regions of Castilla y León, Galicia and Extremadura, where thousands of people have gone to flee from their homes.
More than 343,000 hectares (848,000 acres) of land, the equivalent of almost half a million football releases, have been destroyed this year in Spain, establishing a national record, according to the European Forest Information System (EFFIS).
The previous record of 306,000 hectares (756,142 acres) was established in the same period three years ago.
Help from abroad
Spain is being helped with fire aircraft from France, Italy, Slovakia and the Netherlands, while Portugal receives air support from Sweden and Morocco.
However, the size and severity of the fires and the intensity of the smoke were making it difficult for “aerial action,” Spanish Minister of Spanish Defense Margarita Robles told TVE.
On the other side of the border in Portugal, around 2,000 firefighters were deployed throughout the north and center of the country on Monday, with approximately half of them concentrated in the city of Arganil.
Around 216,000 hectares (533,747 acres) or land have been destroyed in Portugal since the beginning of the year.
Portuguese prime minister, Luis Montenegro, said that the country had suffered 24 days of “unprecedented” gravity conditions, with high temperatures and strong winds.
“We are at war and we must succeed in this fight,” he added.
The officials of both countries expressed hope that the climate will turn to help address fires.
The Spain weather agency said the heat wave, which has seen temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of the country, was coming to an end.
