Spain, Portugal and wildfires
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2don MSN
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.
In neighbouring Portugal, where fires are also blazing, another firefighter was killed on Sunday in a "tragic" traffic accident, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said. Fires have also broken out in Greece, France, Turkey and the Balkans as a heatwave has scorched swathes of southern Europe.
The fires have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns in the country's northwest, forcing locals in many cases to act as firefighters. About 2,382 square miles have burned across Spain and Portugal.
Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece battled ongoing wildfires Friday, an important religious holiday in all three countries, as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.
Wildfires have ravaged more than 450,000 hectares of land across the Iberian peninsula since the start of the year, setting records in a region particularly hard hit by intensive heatwaves and drought affecting southern Europe.
Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated travel guidance for people going to Spain, Portugal and Greece. Wildfires have raged across the three countries, which are all very popular destinations with UK holidaymakers.
The UK's favourite holiday destinations are taking a hard stance on illegal tourist apartments in a bid to curb overtourism - Spain has joined Italy, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Greece in cracking down on unlicensed properties.