Spain wildfires rage as heatwave fuels European environmental disaster
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Spain is battling 20 major wildfires as extreme temperatures fuel a growing environmental disaster, claiming the lives of three people and over scorching more 115,000 hectares of land
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Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire in the village of Vilaza, near Verin, Ourense province, northwestern Spain, on August 12, 2025. (AFP)
Scorching temperatures continued to hamper efforts to contain 20 major wildfires across Spain on Sunday, pushing authorities to deploy an additional 500 troops from the Military Emergency Unit to reinforce firefighting operations.
In the northwestern region of Galicia, several fires merged into a larger blaze, leading to the closure of highways and rail services. The country is grappling with one of the most severe wildfire seasons Southern Europe has witnessed in two decades.
Over the past week alone, the wildfires have claimed three lives and scorched more than 115,000 hectares of land. Neighboring Portugal is also contending with extensive wildfires under similar extreme weather conditions.
The Spanish national weather agency, AEMET, warned that temperatures could reach up to 45°C (113°F) in some areas on Sunday.
“There are still some challenging days ahead and, unfortunately, the weather is not on our side,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated during a press conference in Ourense, one of the most severely affected areas. He confirmed that military support had increased, bringing the total number of deployed troops across Spain to 1,900.
Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, told Spanish public television that while temperatures are expected to ease slightly by Tuesday, current conditions remain "very adverse."
"Today there are extremely high temperatures with an extreme risk of fires, which complicates the firefighting efforts," she said.
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Villagers take firefighting into their own hands
In the village of Villardevos, Galicia, locals resorted to manually battling the fires with water buckets due to electricity cuts that disabled water pumps.
“The fireplanes come in from all sides, but they don't come here,” resident Basilio Rodriguez told Reuters.
“It’s insurmountable, it couldn’t be worse,” Lorea Pascual, another local resident, told the news outlet.
According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, 27 individuals have been arrested and 92 others are under investigation for suspected arson since June.
Portugal also grapples with widespread blazes
Portugal has seen around 155,000 hectares of land burned so far this year, according to preliminary data from the ICNF forestry protection institute, three times the average for this time of year between 2006 and 2024. About half of that damage occurred over just the past three days.
Thousands of firefighters are working to contain eight major fires in central and northern Portugal, including a significant blaze near Piodao, a mountainous area popular with tourists. Another fire near Trancoso has been burning for eight days. A separate blaze in a nearby village claimed the life of a local resident on Friday, the first reported fatality this wildfire season.
With high temperatures and strong winds fueling the blazes, both Spain and Portugal are facing a mounting environmental disaster. The destruction of vast forested areas, displacement of residents, and strain on emergency services highlight the escalating impact of climate extremes across Europe.
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