Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says a further 500 soldiers will be deployed to battle wildfires that have torn through parched woodland amid a record-setting European heatwave.
The decision to add to the more than 1,400 troops already on wildfire duty came as authorities struggle to contain forest blazes, particularly in the north-western Galicia region and await the arrival of promised aircraft reinforcements from other European countries.
Firefighters are tackling 12 major wildfires in the province, all of them near the city of Ourense, according to the head of the Galician regional government Alfonso Rueda, who delivered the update in a joint press conference with Sánchez.
“Homes are still under threat so we have lockdowns in place and are carrying out evacuations,” said Rueda. “Galicia has been battling the spreading flames for more than a week.”
Temperatures in Spain could reach 45C in some areas on Sunday, according to the Spanish national weather agency, AEMET. On Saturday, the highest temperature on record was 44.7C in the southern city of Cordoba.
“This Sunday, when extraordinarily high temperatures are expected, the danger of wildfires is extreme in most of the country,” AEMET said in a post on X.
The fires in Spain this year have burned 3,430 square kilometres, according to the EU’s European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly the same size as metropolitan London.
Experts say Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s. Scientists believe that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness in parts of Europe, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.
Spain awaits assistance from Europe
Madrid is expecting the arrival of two Dutch water-dumping planes that were to join aircraft from France and Italy already helping Spanish authorities under a European cooperation agreement.
Firefighters from other countries are also expected to arrive in the region in coming days, as per an announcement by Spain’s Civil Protection Agency chief Virginia Barcones told public broadcaster RTVE.
National rail operator Renfe said it suspended Madrid-Galicia high-speed train services scheduled for Sunday due to the fires. It’s not yet clear when service is expected to resume.
Galician authorities advised people to wear face masks to avoid inhaling smoke and ash and advised them to limit time spent outdoors as the risk of heatstroke looms.
Cooler days on the horizon for Portugal
Portugal is set for cooler weather in the coming days after a string of severe wildfires. A national state of alert was enacted on 2 August due to the blazes and was set to end on Sunday, a day before two Swedish firefighting planes were expected to arrive.
Similarly to Spain, Portugal’s resources have been stretched. On Sunday, more than 4,000 firefighters and over 1,300 vehicles were deployed, as well as 17 aircraft, to tackle the fires.
The scorched area of forest in Portugal so far this year is 17 times what it was in 2024, estimated at around 1,390 square kilometres, according to preliminary calculations by the Portuguese Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests.
Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania have also requested help from the EU’s firefighting force in recent days to deal with forest fires. The force has already been activated as many times this year as in all of last year’s summer fire season.
Gallipoli memorials threatened by Turkish fires
In Turkey, where recent wildfires have killed 19 people, parts of the historic region that includes memorials to World War I’s Gallipoli campaign were evacuated on Sunday as blazes threatened homes in the country’s northwest provinces.
Çanakkale Mayor Omer Toraman says six villages were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Officials say about 1,300 firefighting personnel backed by 30 aircraft were battling the blaze.
A wildfire on the peninsula to the north of the Dardanelles Strait led to the closure of visitor facilities at Gallipoli, the site’s management said. The area is dotted with cemeteries, memorials and other remnants of battles waged between Ottoman and Allied troops in 1915.
Turkey has been struck by hundreds of fires since late June, fuelled by record-breaking temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.
Additional sources • AP
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