5 dead, 60,000 hectares charred in wildfires across Iberian Peninsula

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spanish authorities confirmed that a shepherd was killed in a wildfire on Monday, increasing the death toll from recent fires across Spain and Portugal to five.

More than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of forest and agricultural land in Portugal have gone up in flames since July 8, according to provisional data released Monday by the conservation institute ICNF.

In Spain, around 30,000 hectares have also been scorched in a similar time frame.

In total, at least three firefighters and two civilians have died in the blazes.

Fueled by wind and a record-setting heatwave, dozens of fires continue to rage on Monday.

Spanish train company Renfe has suspended train travel between Madrid and Galicia after panicked passengers saw themselves surrounded by flames when passing close to the town of Zamora.

Meanwhile, in Catalonia, dozens of homes were damaged or completely destroyed in Bages county.

While the heatwave is officially set to end on Monday, temperatures remain above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in large parts of the nation, and areas in northeastern Spain are under extreme heat advisories.

During the unprecedented heatwave, Portugal registered its highest-ever temperature for July, while dozens of cities across Iberia smashed records for hottest-ever temperatures.

Between both countries, around 750 people died due to excess heat in the first week of the heatwave, according to excess mortality data. That figure is set to rise as calculations lag by several days.

One of those who died was a 60-year-old street sweeper working in above 40 C heat in Madrid. He collapsed from heatstroke on Friday and later died in hospital on Saturday.

His family said it was “inhumane” for authorities to make him work under the sweltering sun in a thick uniform that includes full pants and boots.