Two more dead as Spanish troops battle blazes

Spain has despatched 500 extra troops to battle raging wildfires, bringing the full deployed to 1,900, because the loss of life toll from the blazes has risen to 4.

On Sunday, a firefighter died after an accident throughout firefighting efforts when his truck fell down a steep hill, the Castile and León regional authorities stated.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed “disappointment” and “desolation” on X on the newest loss of life.

In neighbouring Portugal, the place fires are additionally blazing, one other firefighter was killed on Sunday in a “tragic” visitors accident, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated.

Fires have additionally damaged out in Greece, France, Turkey and the Balkans as a heatwave has scorched swathes of southern Europe.

A number of giant fires are nonetheless burning within the northwest and west of Spain, the place 27,000 residents are at present evacuated from their properties.

Castile and León is probably the most affected space, with native media station Radio 5 reporting on Monday that the air is “unbreathable” because of the smoke.

A fireplace within the western province of Cáceres can also be nonetheless uncontrolled and has burned 11,000 hectares (27,181 acres).

Twelve fires are burning within the north-west area of Galicia, most within the province of Ourense, with the most important having burned 17,500 hectares.

Fires on Sunday left not less than 5 folks injured in Castile and León, with 4 of them in vital situation.

Final week, two volunteers died combating fires in Leon. One other man died in Tres Cantos, close to Madrid, after a hearth broke out.

This 12 months alone, about 343,000 hectares have burned throughout Spain, in keeping with the European Forest Hearth Data System (EFFIS) – near double the quantity from the earlier 12 months.

Over the weekend, Spain’s Civil Guard stated they’ve proposed “sanctions” on 4 folks for finishing up unauthorised burns in A Coruña within the Galicia area.

Inflicting a wildfire is a prison offence in Spain, even when unintended.

Neighbouring Portugal has additionally needed to cope with wildfires since late July, with the north and centre of the nation hit the toughest.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa conveyed his “deepest sympathies” to the bereaved household of the firefighter killed in an accident on Sunday. Two different firefighters had been additionally injured.

In 2025, the EFFIS reported that Portugal’s wildfires had burned about 216,000 hectares of land.

Spain and Portugal have activated the European Civil Safety Mechanism, below which nations can request emergency help.

Firefighters from different nations have been despatched to battle the fires in Spain, and each nations can be receiving two fire-fighting planes.

Wildfires are a standard prevalence throughout southern Europe in the summertime, however their severity can usually be exacerbated by heatwave situations.

Meteorologists say such extremes have gotten extra frequent and intense because of human-induced local weather change.

Local weather change is inflicting climate to turn out to be harsher, in keeping with analysis from Spain’s state meteorological company.