Around 1,400 people including tourists have been evacuated as a huge wildfire tearing through land in southern Portugal continues to spread.
More than 850 firefighters and six water-bombing planes were on Tuesday tackling the blaze, which has scorched thousands of hectares of land since is began on Saturday, and is heading towards the Algarve.
Nineteen tiny villages, four tourist developments and a camping site have been evacuated out of precaution. Several roads have also been blocked off, authorities said.
Odemira pic.twitter.com/yVhl2408TP
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The fire began on Saturday in the municipality of Odemira, in the Alentejo region, but has since spread south towards the Algarve, one of Portugal’s top tourist destinations and a favourite amongst British holidaymakers.
Shortly before sunset on Monday, the sky in Odemira turned dark as a huge smoke cloud filled the air.
Strong winds and high temperatures expected to reach around 40C have complicated efforts to fight the flames, which have destroyed around 6,700 hectares of land.
Jose Ribeiro, commander of the emergency and civil protection authority, said weather conditions were expected to remain a challenge.
Odemira’s mayor, Helder Guerreiro, called the situation “critical, difficult and complex” while Mr Ribeiro said there was a “lot of work” ahead to bring the wildfire under control.
“It is a worrying situation,” Mr Ribeiro told reporters during a morning briefing on Tuesday, adding there were two active fronts, with one heading to Monchique, a lush green mountainous area in the Algarve’s countryside.
Monchique, which last burned in 2018, is popular among locals and tourists due to its thermal springs and hotels. It is among the 19 small villages that have been evacuated.
Southern European countries such as Portugal have been grappling with record-breaking temperatures during the peak summer tourist season, prompting authorities to warn of health risks.
Scientists say heat waves are becoming more frequent, intense and spread out across seasons due to climate change.
Monday saw a temperature of 46.4C in the Portuguese district of Santarém, the country’s hottest temperature of the year so far.
Three districts in Portugal’s north were placed under red alert on Tuesday as temperatures were expected to rise to 41C in the northern city of Castelo Branco.
In Alentejo, thermometers should reach 40C in Evora and 38C in Beja.
Authorities have declared more than 120 municipalities across Portugal, including in Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve, at maximum risk of wildfires.
“The weather conditions we are going to experience in the coming days means any small occurrence (fire) could become a big one,” Civil Protection secretary of state Patricia Gaspar told a news conference.
