Spain endures one of its most destructive wildfire seasons

Spain tackled several major wildfires on Tuesday in one of the country’s most destructive fire seasons in recent decades, despite temperatures dropping across the Iberian Peninsula.

- Suman NAISHADHAM

PABLO BLAZQUEZ DOMINGUEZ Getty Images A MEMBER of the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades battles a blaze in Castrelo do Val, Spain, on Tuesday.

Thousands of firefighters aided by soldiers and water-bombing aircraft fought fires tearing through parched woodland that were especially severe in northwestern Spain, where the country’s weather agency AEMET reported a still “very high or extreme” fire risk — particularly in the Galicia region.

The fires in Galicia have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns, forcing locals in many cases to step in before firefighters arrive.

Firefighting units from Germany arrived in northern Spain on Tuesday to help fight the blazes, Spain’s Interior Ministry announced. More than 20 vehicles were deployed to help fight an ongoing blaze in Jarilla in the Extremadura region that borders Portugal, the ministry said.