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Hundreds of firefighters across Portugal and Spain are battling new wildfires following a summer marred by destructive blazes, according to civil protection authorities.
Strong winds have intensified the flames in several regions, leading to road closures, evacuations of villages, and urgent measures to safeguard homes. The largest blaze is currently burning near Seia in central Portugal, where a team of 600 firefighters has been deployed, the civil protection agency reported.
The main focus is “protecting residential areas,” a civil protection spokesperson told the Lusa news agency. Authorities also announced the arrest of a suspect believed to have sparked the fire.
In Spain’s northwest, officials placed the small village of Castromil under confinement as a precaution on Saturday because of a nearby fire. This area was heavily affected by a series of devastating fires in August. Due to strong winds, the fire there reignited on Saturday, according to an environment ministry source in Castilla y León.
Spain officially lifted a state of emergency on Sunday that had been in effect for several weeks, marking one of the most severe wildfire outbreaks in recent years. The fires resulted in four fatalities and burned over 300,000 hectares.
In August, central and northern Portugal also experienced significant wildfires that claimed four lives and injured several individuals. These fires destroyed approximately 254,000 hectares of land, the worst toll since 2017, according to data from the National Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation.
This year, Portugal endured its hottest summer since 1931, as reported by the national meteorological agency.
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