Spain sends another 500 people to combat the vegetation fires that have devastated the forests after the prolonged heatwave. Flames fanned by the wind have consumed an area of land the size of the London metropolitan area, and a firefighter died in the line of duty.
The decision announced on Sunday by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to supplement the number of over 1,400 firefighters who are already working to extinguish the vegetation fires was made as authorities were struggling to control the forest fires, especially in the north-western region of Galicia, and were awaiting the arrival of reinforcements with aircraft promised from other European countries, as reported by AP.
Spain entered its third week of a heatwave alert on Monday. Firefighters are battling fires concentrated in the north-west and west of the country. Castile and León, Galicia, Asturias, and Extremadura are the main hotspots of forest fires.
Strong winds have intensified the flames, even generating a column of air resembling a fire tornado.
An Area the Size of London Scorched by Flames
Galicia, an autonomous community located in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula, has been battling spreading flames for over a week. Firefighters are working to extinguish 12 major fires in this region, all near the city of Coruña, said the head of the Galician regional government, Alfonso Rueda, in a press conference.
"Homes are still threatened, so we have introduced quarantine zones and are carrying out evacuations," Rueda added.
The national railway operator Renfe announced the suspension of high-speed train services between Madrid and Galicia scheduled for Sunday due to the fires.
Galician authorities advised people to wear face masks and limit their time spent outdoors to avoid inhaling smoke and ash.
Fires in Spain have consumed 158,000 hectares of land this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System of the European Union. This area is nearly as large as the London metropolitan area.
A Firefighter Died in the Line of Duty, Spain Awaits Forces from Europe
A firefighter died while battling the flames, authorities announced on Monday, and the toll of fire victims has risen to four, as reported by AFP. According to El País, this tragedy occurred after a tanker carrying the firefighter overturned during an intervention.
Other firefighters were injured in the accident on a forest road near Ponferrada, in Castile and León.
- Spain and Portugal Battle Huge Fires. Tens of Thousands of Hectares Devastated, and Victims Multiply
Two Dutch water-dumping planes are set to arrive in Spain, joining aircraft from France and Italy already assisting Spanish authorities under a European cooperation agreement.
In the coming days, firefighters from other European countries will also arrive, said Virginia Barcones, the head of Spain's Civil Protection Agency, in an interview with the public television station RTVE.
Huge Fires in Portugal and the Balkans
Portugal expects cooler weather in the coming days after a series of severe forest fires.
Like in Spain, Portugal's resources have been overstretched. On Sunday, over 4,000 firefighters and over 1,300 vehicles, as well as 17 aircraft, were deployed, announced the country's Civil Protection Agency.
The forest area that has burned in Portugal so far this year is approximately 139,000 hectares, 17 times larger than in 2024, according to preliminary calculations by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, a government body.
Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Albania have also requested assistance from the EU firefighting force in recent days to combat forest fires. The force has already been activated as many times this year as in the entire summer fire season last year.
Evacuations in Turkey
In Turkey, where recent fires have killed 19 people, some areas in the historical region that includes monuments dedicated to the Gallipoli campaign of World War I were evacuated on Sunday as the fire threatened homes in the country's north-west.
Six villages were evacuated as a precaution, said the governor of Canakkale province, Omer Toraman.
Approximately 1,300 firefighters, supported by 30 aircraft, were battling the fires, according to the General Directorate of Forestry.
A vegetation fire in the peninsula north of the Dardanelles led to the closure of visitor facilities at Gallipoli, the site management said. The area is dotted with cemeteries, monuments, and other remnants of the battles between Ottoman and Allied troops fought in 1915.
Turkey has been affected by hundreds of fires since the end of June, fueled by record temperatures, drought conditions, and strong winds.
T.D.