Spain and Portugal Continue to Battle Wildfires
SPAIN – Wildfires in Spain and Portugal continued on Thursday, as Spain battles more than 20 wildfires with Galicia among the hardest-hit regions of the country.
Officials said flames devoured another 15,000 hectares of land on Wednesday, bringing the total to over 82,000 hectares despite a drop in temperatures.
In Castile and Leon, firefighting efforts have been complicated due to shifting winds in Zamora’s Porto forest fire. Local authorities said the blaze had been brought under control on Wednesday, thanks to the deployment of extensive resources, though it remained volatile.
A total of 21 fires are still categorized at operational status 2, requiring coordinated emergency responses.
In the Leon province, the town of Iguena faced a night of tension as flames advanced toward nearby villages.
“The residents are very angry, … it has been a very complicated night,” Mayor Alider Presa said.
He added that the Civil Guard is investigating possible causes, as the fire broke out in calm weather conditions during bulldozer cleanup work.
In Ourense, Galicia, residents are still reeling from the destruction in the Vilamartin de Valdeorras region, where thousands of hectares of forest area and parts of the San Vicente village were reduced to ashes.
“The smoke is disappearing and we are realizing the immensity of the disaster,” said Mayor Enrique Alvarez Barreiro, describing how residents broke down in tears at the scale of the devastation.
Authorities said eight roads remain closed due to fires in Castile and Leon and Extremadura, while the national weather agency AEMET warned that the risk of fire remains “very high or extreme” in parts of the northwest, northeast, and southeast, despite overall improvement.
Wildfires in Portugal
Across the border in Portugal, more than 2,800 firefighters and nearly 900 vehicles were deployed overnight to contain five major wildfires.
The fire in the Arganil town of Portugal’s Coimbra district, has spread into three municipalities of Castelo Branco, engaging more than half of the country’s firefighting resources, the broadcaster RTP reported.
Fires have also been reported in Sabugal, Penamacor, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, and Fafe, while blazes in Braganca and Viseu are now under resolution.
In Sintra, near the capital Lisbon, over 100 firefighters worked through the night after a blaze forced the closure of a section of the A16 motorway, though officials said no homes were at risk.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro is expected to face questions in parliament on Aug. 27 over the government’s coordination of firefighting efforts, as Portugal braces for what authorities warn could be one of the most severe fire seasons in years.
