Hundreds of Tres Cantos residents were forced to leave their homes amid Spain’s wildfires and the regional environment minister described the fire as having “explosive characteristics because of a dry storm that has brought winds of more than 70km/h (43.5mph)”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X on Tuesday and said that rescue services “are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires”. “We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious,” he added.
In Spain’s north-western region of Castile and Leon, almost 4,000 people were evacuated and more than 30 blazes were reported – with one threatening Las Medulas, a Unesco World Heritage site renowned for its ancient gold mines.
Another 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the tourist hotspot of Tarifa in the southern region of Andalusia.
Almost 1,000 soldiers were deployed to battle wildfires around the country, Spain’s national military emergency unit said on Tuesday morning.
In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, with the most serious near Trancoso contained in the centre of the country on Tuesday.