Forest fires claim lives in Portuguese woods, leaving four deceased
Wildfires in Portugal and Spain: Update as of August 22, 2025
The wildfires that have been ravaging Portugal and Spain continue to pose a significant challenge, with eight lives lost and thousands of square kilometers of land affected over the past month.
In Portugal, a fire in Arganil, located in the country's centre, has added to the ongoing crisis. Preliminary estimates indicate that nearly 2,800 square kilometers of nature have been destroyed, an area larger than the Saarland. Tragically, a fourth firefighter has died while battling these blazes, the deceased having suffered severe burns on Tuesday and passing away in a Porto hospital on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in Spain, the situation is improving, according to Virginia Barcones, the director general of the Civil Protection. The end of a prolonged heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, and some rain in certain areas have helped firefighters in their efforts. However, preliminary estimates by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) suggest that over 4,000 square kilometers of nature have been destroyed since the beginning of the year, making this the largest burned area ever recorded in a single year in Spain.
As of now, there are still 16 active wildfires in Spain, and Virginia Barcones has called for a "final push" to extinguish them. A German unit consisting of 67 firefighters from North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony has been deployed since Tuesday to aid in the fight. They began their operations in the Extremadura region and later moved to Kastilien-León to help combat severe wildfires, securing villages such as La Baña and working under difficult conditions to extinguish hotspots in steep terrain.
On the Portuguese front, around 1,400 firefighters are still working tirelessly to combat the fires, with other blazes having been brought under control or extinguished. No new deaths due to wildfires have been reported in either country since the last update.
In a show of international solidarity, Spain has issued a cautious all-clear, expressing gratitude for the support received from other countries, including Germany. As the battle against the wildfires continues, both countries remain hopeful for a swift resolution to this ongoing crisis.
