Two firefighters have lost their lives in Spain and Portugal as massive wildfires, fueled by an unrelenting heatwave, continue to devastate the Iberian Peninsula.
Authorities confirmed that both victims died in road accidents while battling the blazes, bringing the death toll to four in Spain and two in Portugal in recent weeks.
Spain, now entering its third consecutive week of heatwave alerts, has deployed emergency services alongside army units to combat fires ravaging the regions of Castilla y Leon, Galicia, Asturias, and Extremadura. More than 70,000 hectares of land have already been destroyed this month, nearly half the total burned nationwide this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
In northwestern Spain, regional officials reported that one firefighter was killed when his truck overturned on a steep forest road. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, visiting one of the worst-hit regions on Sunday, pledged a “national pact” to tackle the climate crisis driving these disasters.
Meanwhile, in Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa confirmed the death of a firefighter on Sunday, with two others seriously injured. The tragedy followed the death of a former mayor in Guarda last Friday, who succumbed while fighting flames.
Portugal has already lost nearly 185,000 hectares of land to wildfires this year, surpassing the 136,000 hectares destroyed in 2024. Around 2,000 firefighters remain on active duty, with reinforcements expected from two EU water-bombing aircraft.
Experts warn that successive heatwaves and worsening droughts, intensified by climate change, are leaving the Iberian Peninsula increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires.
