Fond of animals, the 50-year-old mechanic realised the flames were encroaching on a farm that was well known locally as a place where people stabled their horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me and told me there was a fire on the farm. He said: \u2018I\u2019m going there, everything\u2019s burning\u2019,\u201d Spiridon\u2019s wife Elena told Spanish newspaper El Pa\u00eds.<\/p>\n
She heard the sound of commotion and people calling to free the horses. Then, nothing more.<\/p>\n
Across the Mediterranean, drier summers and hotter temperatures<\/a> are driving wildfires of a ferocity that firefighters struggle to contain.<\/p>\n The inferno in Tres Cantos was just one of 14 major fires that Spain battled simultaneously this week, ranging from its southern tip to its most temperate northern regions.<\/p>\n This year fire has consumed nearly 440,000 hectares of land in the euro zone, according to calculations by the EU Science Hub; on average, the amount of land burnt up in the same period of the year is half that. <\/p>\n In Spain, 115,000 hectares was consumed in just the past few days. Several blazes converged into one huge fire in the region of Galicia, cutting off roads and the region\u2019s rail connection to Madrid. The fires forced the evacuation of more than 8,000 people from their homes. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Spain struggles to contain spate of record-breaking wildfiresOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Conditions have been worsened by a brutal heatwave that is forecast to persist through this weekend. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is no precedent for a period between August 1st and 20th as warm as that of 2025,\u201d national weather agency Aemet said in a statement. On Tuesday, 65 Spanish weather stations registered temperatures of 42 degrees or more.<\/p>\n For the first time, the country activated the European Union\u2019s disaster assistance system to appeal for help; France sent two water bombing aircraft in response.<\/p>\n It was the fifth European country to do so in one week. In Greece, where 152 fires broke out in 48 hours, 5,000 firefighters were mobilised to try to contain infernos that forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.<\/p>\n The map of major wildfires across Europe in the last 24 hours shows a constellation of infernos from Portugal to Turkey, a pattern that has become an annual event that consumes wilderness, destroys homes, forces thousands to evacuate and claims lives.<\/p>\n The European Commission\u2019s Joint Research Centre notes scientific research suggests that \u201cforest fire damage is likely to increase in the future due to climate change\u201d. <\/p>\n In a video recorded as firefighters struggled to contain the spreading flames at Tres Cantos this week, Madrid regional minister Carlos Novillo Piris said the wildfire had been driven by a \u201cdry storm\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fire was explosive,\u201d he said. \u201cIt spread at a speed we have never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n When nothing was heard from Spiridon after his fateful decision to try to save the horses, family friends went to search for him. They found him badly burned and suffering from smoke inhalation. <\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/KPLNVSAKFXPUQ7U2BTAILKIO7Y.jpg\")
People try to battle a wildfire in the village of Santa Baia de Montes in the province of Ourense, northwestern Spain, this week. Photograph: Miguel Riopa\/AFP <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/JSXH3XSDNXCDTVOBW477BMGOII.jpg\")
A man runs out of the flames during a wildfire near the village of Larouco, in the province of Ourense, in northwestern Spain earlier this week. Photograph: Miguel Riopa\/AFP <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IE4IN6JXYCF6QMMSRFRHNJMTNY.jpg\")
The coffin of Jaime Aparicio Vidales, who died in the wildfire in Molezuelas de Carballeda, is carried after his funeral in Quintanilla de Florez. Photograph: Getty Images <\/p>\n