Germany has deployed firefighters to northern Spain to help battle the country’s most severe wildfires in decades.
According to officials in Bonn, 67 emergency personnel with 23 vehicles arrived in San Sebastián on Tuesday and were scheduled to continue to Extremadura, one of the worst-hit regions bordering Portugal. In Jarilla, Extremadura, a massive blaze has already destroyed about 15,000 hectares of land.
Spain is receiving reinforcements from several European countries, including France, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, while Portugal is also battling four major wildfires of its own.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska were expected to visit the Extremadura fire zone, a day after Sánchez toured the devastated areas of Galicia.
Authorities described the situation as extremely dangerous, with shifting winds fueling fire walls several meters high. One Spanish commander compared the intensity to a “fire tsunami.”
So far, four people have died in Spain and two in Portugal, while four firefighters in Galicia were injured, including one with severe burns.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 3,400 square kilometers of land have been scorched across Spain, with Castile and León, Galicia, Extremadura, and Asturias among the hardest-hit regions. Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate as crews race to contain the flames amid forecasts that offer little hope of rain in the coming days.