Wildfires tearing through Spain have scorched an area the size of nearly 500,000 football pitches this year, breaking the country’s record for August, according to European monitors.
Data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) shows that more than 343,000 hectares have already burned in Spain, surpassing the 306,000 hectares recorded by this point in 2022.
The worst year on record for Europe remains 2017, when Portugal lost 563,000 hectares and 119 people were killed. So far in 2025, Portugal has already seen 216,000 hectares destroyed, EFFIS reported. The agency has tracked such data for 20 years.
In Spain, the devastation has been concentrated in the northwestern regions of Galicia and Castilla y León, and four people have died. The region of Extremadura has also been badly hit by wildfires. The fire in the area of Molezuelas de la Carballeda, burning between León and Zamora provinces, has been described in the Spanish press as the largest blaze in the nation’s history, wiping out 38,000 hectares.
Two firefighters – one in Spain and one in Portugal – were killed in separate road accidents on Sunday. Three firefighters in Spain have died as a direct result of the wildfires. Four more firefighters were injured with burns on Monday in Galicia, one of them seriously. ALSO READ: Death toll from wildfires now four, as another firefighter dies after truck overturns.
Virginia Barcones, head of Spain’s Civil Protection and Emergencies, told broadcaster TVE there were currently 23 ‘active fires’ posing ‘a serious and direct threat to the population’.
Barcones expressed hope that weather conditions would soon help firefighters. Spain’s meteorological agency reported that the heatwave — which had pushed temperatures to 45C in parts of the country — was finally breaking.
Spain has received aerial firefighting support from France, Italy, Slovakia and the Netherlands, while Sweden and Morocco have sent aircraft to assist Portugal.
‘It’s a very difficult, very complicated situation,’ Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles told TVE. She noted that the sheer size of the fires, combined with the smoke clouds visible from space, were making ‘airborne action’ extremely challenging. ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez visits wildfire-hit Galicia and pledges ‘national pact’ to address climate emergency.
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🔥#EMSR837 – Wildfires in North-West Spain🇪🇸
Since early August, forest fires have been affecting the North-West, impacting towns, roads & railways.#MappingTeam identified 50,800+ ha burnt, with ~1,000 people potentially affected in Ourense Province
🔗https://t.co/gdFzPhYTyi pic.twitter.com/orszWLOrDy
— Copernicus EMS (@CopernicusEMS) August 18, 2025
🇪🇺 Un oficial de enlace del Mecanismo Europeo de Protección Civil @eu_echo contribuirá a la coordinación de medios frente a los incendios forestales.
📍 Opera desde esta mañana en la Dirección General de @proteccioncivil. pic.twitter.com/OlOVh8EoZ5
— Ministerio del Interior (@interiorgob) August 18, 2025
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