Spain, Europe and wildfires
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Up to 20 major wildfires are burning in total, the majority in Spain's northwestern region of Galicia, while there are several blazes in neighbouring Portugal.
Spain's worst wave of wildfires in at least two decades spread to the southern slopes of the Picos de Europa mountain range on Monday and prompted authorities to close part of the popular Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.
Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.
France sent two teams of 100 firefighters, who were “currently arriving,” Virginia Barcones Sanz, the director general of civil protection and emergencies in Spain, told reporters on Monday. Germany is deploying a team of 66 firefighters with 21 vehicles, while Finland is sending 30 firefighters, she said.
By Guillermo Martinez and Ana Cantero VILLARDEVÓS (Reuters) -Scorching heat hampered efforts to contain 20 major wildfires across Spain on Sunday, prompting the government to deploy an additional 500 troops from the military emergency unit to support firefighting operations.
Another 500 soldiers have been deployed across Spain to battle the deadly wildfires scorching the country. More than 1,000 troops have now been sent in to tackle several raging infernos, which have burned an area roughly the size of metropolitan London in the past week, killing seven people.
King Felipe of Spain was forced to cut his summer vacation short this week to deal with a national emergency back at home.
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Wildfires in Spain and Portugal force evacuations and deployment of thousands of emergency personnel
A heatwave is continuing to affect the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to battle ongoing blazes and towns have been evacuated. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited affected regions to meet with the heads of emergency teams.
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