Nearly 1,000 firefighters remained mobilised Monday in central Portugal to prevent flare-ups of what authorities said was the biggest forest fire the country has seen -- ravaging an area more than 10 times bigger than Manhattan island.

The blaze was only brought under control on Sunday after raging for 11 days and having burned 64,451 hectares (160,000 acres), National Civil Protection Authority spokesman Commander Telmo Ferreira told AFP.

That made it the largest fire ever recorded in Portugal, according to the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF). The previous biggest was 53,000 hectares devastated by a forest fire in October 2017.

The blaze covered seven municipalities in Coimbra, Guarda, and Castelo Branco districts and was caused by lightning strikes, officials said.

Ferreira said authorities still had nearly 1,000 firefighters and 300 vehicles on "surveillance operations" Monday though the numbers were expected to be gradually reduced.

Monday brought some respite as the civil protection system recorded no fresh outbreaks from a summer which has seen Portugal and neighbouring Spain suffer a slew of fires.

Since July, forest fires have killed four people in Portugal, destroyed homes and crops, and ravaged some 278,000 hectares, according to European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) data. Four people have also died in the most recent firest in Spain.

Portugal's worst year was in 2017, when more than 563,000 hectares were burned in wildfires that killed 119 people, according to EFFIS records.

The government has announced a number of emergency measures to help affected areas, including funding for the reconstruction of destroyed homes and aid for farmers.

The Iberian Peninsula has been severely affected by climate change, which is causing longer and more intense heatwaves, according to experts.

Spain hopeful of dousing remaining wildfires
Madrid (AFP) Aug 25, 2025 -

Just over a dozen serious wildfires were still burning in Spain, the authorities said on Monday, as foreign assistance winds down and cooler temperatures are forecast.

The civil protection service said there were 14 active wildfires classified as operation level two, meaning they pose a danger to people and property, down from 18 on Saturday and 21 last week.

Four people have died during the wildfires that have hit Spain this month, destroying large areas of land.

The head of the agency, Virginia Barcones, told a news conference that efforts were "progressing slowly", particularly due to reignition, but she added: "The evolution is favourable in most of the fires".

Winds have been "more intense" and temperatures higher Monday but forecasts for improved weather Tuesday could help firefighters contain the blazes, Barcones said.

Spanish firefighters, helped by teams from other EU countries, have been battling blazes for weeks that have scorched more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) over the past two weeks, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

The hardest-hit regions were in the north and west: Castile and Leon, Extremadura, and Galicia.

The fires flared during a two-week heatwave that sent temperatures above 40C.

Foreign firefighting teams from Finland and France will begin returning home Tuesday, German crews will return on Wednesday while Romanian teams are scheduled to leave Thursday, Barcones said.

Three people died in Castile and Leon, and another died near Madrid.

Scientists say climate change is driving longer, more intense, and more frequent heatwaves worldwide, fuelling wildfires.

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