Wildfires Rage Across Spain and Portugal as Death Toll Rises
Thousands of firefighters, alongside military personnel and water-bombing aircraft, are battling dozens of wildfires across Spain and Portugal, with the death toll now reaching six since the outbreaks began. The Iberian Peninsula is experiencing severe forest fires exacerbated by consecutive heatwaves and droughts attributed to climate change impacting the southern Mediterranean, reports 24brussels.
Two firefighters lost their lives on Sunday—one in each country due to road accidents—bringing the total fatalities to four in Spain and two in Portugal. The head of Spain’s Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, disclosed to broadcaster TVE that there are currently 23 “active fires in operation status two,” which signifies a serious threat to the population.
The ongoing fires, now entering their second week, are predominantly affecting the Galicia, Castile and Leon, and Extremadura regions. This year alone, the wildfires in Spain have ravaged land equivalent to nearly half a million football fields, marking a record-setting year, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis) on Monday.
As of now, the 2025 wildfires have scorched over 343,000 hectares, surpassing the previous record for this period of 306,000 hectares set in 2022. Barcones expressed hope that weather conditions would improve to assist in combating the fires, as Spain’s meteorological agency predicts the heatwave ending, which has seen temperatures soar to 45°C in parts of the south.
Spain is receiving firefighting assistance from aircraft sent by France, Italy, Slovakia, and the Netherlands, while Portugal is supported by aerial resources from Sweden and Morocco. “It’s a very difficult, very complicated situation,” acknowledged Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles during her appearance on TVE.
She noted that the size and severity of the fires, along with the intensity of the smoke—visible from space—were complicating aerial firefighting operations. In Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted the death of a firefighter on Sunday night in a traffic accident that also left two of his colleagues seriously injured.
Additionally, a former mayor of the eastern town of Guarda died on Friday while attempting to combat a fire. Currently, approximately 2,000 firefighters are deployed throughout northern and central Portugal, with nearly half of them focused in the town of Arbanil.
