Firefighters come dangerously close to wildfires as they tear through northwestern Spain
Emergency services, alongside the help of a bulldozer, spent Monday night (11 August) battling flames in Paradiña, the Province of León.
Firefighters withdrew from the area at 7:00am on Tuesday morning (12 August).
Almost 6,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in northern and central Spain as wildfires continue to burn amidst a heatwave, whilst firefighters in neighbouring Portugal tackled three major blazes in the municipality of Trancoso on Monday.
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Deadly wildfires which have claimed the lives of at least three people have spread across several British tourist hotspots forcing thousands of evacuations as a scorching heatwave continues to tear through Europe. Sunseekers have been fleeing Greece 's Zakynthos and Kefalonia islands 'by the minute' as raging infernos continue to rip through the Med. A British bar worker on Zakynthos told Sky News he joined emergency services and locals to help combat a 'shocking' fire near a popular tourist resort. Since dawn on Wednesday, 4,850 firefighters backed by the army and 33 planes were mobilised across Greece on what promised to be 'a very difficult day', fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. In popular party-resort Laganas, officials ordered young Brit revellers to leave hotels as a 'precautionary measure' after the fires shot clouds of black smoke over the area. 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He urged European partners to deploy the planes quickly given 'weather forecasts' that could worsen the blazes, telling broadcaster Cadena Ser radio that Spain would also request firefighter deployments if necessary. Bushy undergrowth and searing temperatures that have baked Spain for almost two weeks had created 'the worst possible breeding ground for this situation', Castile and Leon's civil protection head Irene Cortes said. Madrid was hit by fireballs on Monday night as a hellish blaze fuelled by strong winds burned several houses in the capital's suburbs. At least 180 people were evacuated overnight from Tres Cantos, an affluent suburb northeast of Madrid, after wildfires tore through homes and farmland. A farmer who had been taken by helicopter to the La Paz hospital after suffering burns on 98 percent of his body, later died, the Community of Madrid confirmed on Tuesday. He reportedly sustained his injuries while trying to rescue 27 horses, who were also killed in the blaze. Spanish authorities said today a 35-year-old volunteer firefighter died on Tuesday while trying to extinguish a wildfire. Kings College, a prestigious British private school, is also understood to have suffered some damage, and a donkey shelter burned down. Due to the speed of winds, the flames quickly spread and reached the Norman pharmaceutical laboratories, where sounds of explosions were reportedly heard. 'In barely 40 minutes, the fire advanced six kilometres,' Carlos Novillo, Madrid's regional environment chief, told reporters. The inferno then spread to the adjacent affluent suburbs of Fuente del Fresno and Soto de Viñuelas, where residents remained on evacuation alerts overnight. Footage shared on social media showed how flames spread through forested areas, while thick smoke billowed into the sky. Other videos showed how strong winds pushed blazes across fields as fire services rushed to contain the inferno. Firefighters managed to contain the wildfire near the Spanish capital by Tuesday morning thanks to favourable overnight conditions, regional authorities said. A total of 199 wildfires have scorched nearly 98,784 hectares across Spain this year, more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024. Neighbouring Portugal deployed more than 2,100 firefighters and 20 aircraft against five major blazes, with efforts focused on a fire in the central municipality of Trancoso that has raged since Saturday. Strong gusts of wind had rekindled flames overnight and threatened nearby villages, where television images showed locals volunteering to help firefighters under a thick cloud of smoke. 'It's scary... but we are always ready to help each other,' a mask-wearing farmer told Sic Noticias television, holding a spade in his hand. 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The country mourned a soldier who died in a water truck overturn near the capital Podgorica on Tuesday, with the defence ministry speaking of a 'heavy loss'. In Britain, temperatures were expected to peak at 34C in the country's fourth heatwave of the summer. The UK Health Security Agency warned of 'significant impacts' on health and social care services for the parts of central and southeastern England where the harshest heat was forecast.
