MADRID — Spain and Portugal are at the epicentre of one of Europe’s most destructive wildfire seasons on record.

Data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) show that by 19 August about 9,670 square kilometres of land had burned across the EU this year, almost three times the 2006‑2024 average.

Southern Europe, particularly Spain and Portugal, is facing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades.

Spain has already lost nearly 4,000 square kilometres of forest and farmland, eclipsing the previous record of 3,060 square kilometres burned in 2022.

Portugal has seen over 2,610 square kilometres destroyed, almost double last year’s tally.

Spain's civil-protection chief warned that the fires continue to pose a direct threat to populated areas, while Defence Minister Margarita Robles described “airborne action” as difficult because of thick smoke.

The heatwave spanning 16 days is the third-longest on record and sent temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius over the weekend, according to Spanish state weather agency Aemet.

Since the start of the year, more than 2,610 square kilometres have been destroyed by wildfires in Portugal, according to EFFIS.

In 2017, Portugal saw a particularly devastating fire season, with 5,630 square kilometres scorched.

The fires were the deadliest in the country’s history, claiming more than 100 lives.

Five major wildfires remained active across mainland Portugal on Thursday morning, according to the country’s civil protection agency, as thousands of firefighters continued to battle blazes in several districts.

Updated figures as of 19 August 2025 show the scale of devastation is more than four times higher than the long-term seasonal average of about 244,000 hectares for this point in the year.

EFFIS also reported 1,784 significant fires since the start of 2025, far above the 1,185 logged during the same period last year.

The blazes have released more than 38 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, over three times last year’s emissions. — Euronews