Spain has lost nearly 3,50,000 hectares (865,000 acres) of land to wildfires over the past 13 days, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), cited by El País. So far this year, a total of 391,581 hectares (967,616 acres) have been burned.
As of Wednesday, 22 high-risk fires remain active across the regions of Galicia, Castile and Leon, and Extremadura. Authorities also arrested a suspect accused of starting three simultaneous fires in Madrid on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government will designate the worst-affected areas as disaster zones next Tuesday.
Neighbouring Portugal is also struggling with at least four active wildfires. On Tuesday night, a 65-year-old man died in Mirandela, Bragança district, after being run over by the machine he was using to fight the flames, Diário de Notícias reported. His death brings Portugal’s wildfire toll this year to three.
Provisional data show that more than 222,000 hectares (548,500 acres) have burned in Portugal as of August 20—already surpassing the total destruction recorded in all of 2024.
