Fresh wildfires break out in Spain and Portugal
Hundreds of firefighters battled new wildfires in Spain and Portugal on Saturday, civil protection authorities said, following a summer of devastating blazes in the region.
In Spain, authorities confined the small village of Castromil in the northwest as a precaution on Saturday due to a nearby fire.
The area was hit hard by a wave of devastating fires in August. One fire there revived on Saturday due to strong winds, a source in the nearby Castilla and Leon region environment ministry said.
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Last Sunday, Spain ended a state of emergency that had been in effect for several weeks due to one of the worst waves of wildfires to hit the country in recent years.
Four people were killed and over 300,000 hectares burnt.
August 2025 was Spain's hottest month on record, the national meteorological agency AEMET said on Friday.
But the biggest fire in the region was in Seia, central Portugal, where 600 firefighters were deployed to tackle the flames, fanned by strong winds, and several roads had to be closed, the civil protection agency said.
READ ALSO: Six reasons why Spain's wildfires are so bad this year
The priority was "to protect homes", the Lusa news agency quoted a civil protection spokesperson as saying. Police said had they arrested a person suspected of starting the fire.
Central and northern Portugal were ravaged in August by devastating wildfires that killed four people and caused several injuries.
The Portugal fires destroyed about 254,000 hectares, the worst such toll since 2017, according to data from the National Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation.
Portugal experienced the hottest summer since 1931 this year, the national meteorological agency said on Friday.
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