SPAIN: Firefighters from across Europe are helping Spanish and Portuguese colleagues in a desperate fight to extinguish dozens of forest fires sweeping across the Iberian Peninsula.
So far this year 130,000 hectares of woodland and brush have been destroyed in Portugal and at least 108,000 more in Spain.
Reinforcement firefighters have come from Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands in response to an appeal for help from the Portuguese government. They have brought specialised equipment and aircraft and helicopters equipped to drop tonnes of water on the flames.
Spain has contributed two of its Canadaire hydroplanes to help in the battle to save the historic university town of Coimbra, which is completely surrounded by fires.
The Spaniards howver remain on standby ready to return home to fight Spain's own blazing woodland. Three thousand firefighters and 600 soldiers are battling around the clock to extinguish more than 34 other fires sweeping across Portugal.
Galicia in the northwest of Spain is fighting 35 fires which threaten to join those devastating so much of Portugal. The regional government there is facing the worst wave of fires for more than 15 years and 35,000 hectares have been destroyed since January.
Other fires broke out near Tarragona on the east coast, where 550 hectares were destroyed on Monday night. Three campsites and half a dozen farmhouses were evacuated as flames, fanned by strong winds, advanced.
Arsonists have been blamed for many of the outbreaks in Spain; 275 people have been arrested so far this year.
Minister for the environment Cristina Narbona said up to 90 per cent of fires were caused by either negligence or arson. Negligence, involving barbecue sparks, was almost certainly the cause of the fire in Guadalajara last month when 11 firefighters died.
The Civil Guard has warned that unless there is a dramatic drop in temperatures and an end to the drought affecting the whole of Spain, the situation will worsen.