About 50 residents had to be evacuated as the fires ripped through the countryside. Madrid Security and Emergency Agency described the blazes as of "maximum concern"

Spain travel disruption wildfires halt high-speed trains in Galicia, stranding passengers and affecting routes to Santiago and Madrid this week.

Spiridon was one of three people to die in Spain’s wildfires this week, each of them ordinary people who saw the flames and rushed to help.

Madrid (AFP) — As Spain enters its third week of heatwave alerts, firefighters continue to battle blazes in the northwest and west of the country, with army units deployed to help contain the blazes.

A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon, while police arrested a man for allegedly starting a separate blaze as the country faced one of its worst summers for fires in 20 years.

Spain is preparing for a national emergency as wildfires sweep across southern Europe after days of relentless heat.

PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID (Reuters) -Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds wreaked destruction across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning homes and forcing thousands of residents and tourists to flee.

Firefighters across Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans were battling wildfires on Tuesday, with another heatwave pushing temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of Europe.

The European Union has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help battle raging wildfires, after the country activated the bloc's disaster assistance mechanism for the first time. The assistance comes as the country recorded a third wildfire-related death on Thursday morning.