Wildfires fanned by extreme heat have torn through thousands of hectares in Portugal and north-eastern Spain, forcing hundreds of evacuations and leaving at least nine people injured. The most severe blaze, in northern Portugal’s Vouzela municipality, has consumed an estimated 10,000 hectares of forest since Wednesday night, according to the national civil protection authority. Around 1,000 firefighters, supported by 300 vehicles and eight aircraft, are battling the flames; four smaller outbreaks elsewhere in the country each require at least 100 personnel. Nine people have been injured, two seriously, including one civilian with severe burns and three firefighters with minor injuries, the authority said.

In Spain’s Catalonia region, a fire that broke out Friday near La Bisbal d’Empordà, roughly 20 kilometres from the Costa Brava, has burned 2,200 hectares of mostly forested land. Regional firefighters reported that overnight work had stabilised about 70% of the right flank, though they cautioned that a forecast midday wind change could complicate containment. No injuries have been recorded, but around 150 people were evacuated, including some 70 children from a holiday camp. Spanish authorities arrested a man on suspicion of starting the fire while using an angle grinder by the roadside; Catalan fire officials described the cause as “probably due to negligence.”

The fires are unfolding amid a prolonged heatwave that has broken temperature records across western Europe. In France, the national public health agency reported a 40% increase in deaths at home in the Île-de-France region since 24 June, with an excess of 2,025 fatalities nationwide during the week of 22–28 June — a 29.1% rise over the previous week. Medical sources note that 85% of the dead were over 65, and 62% lived in the Paris metropolitan area. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has disputed projections by the Green party that the final toll could approach 10,000, calling such figures “scandalous.”

Across the continent, cities have activated emergency measures. Paris has opened air-conditioned municipal halls, permitted swimming in the Canal Saint-Martin, and kept parks accessible until midnight. Lisbon has extended metro station hours to offer overnight cooling for the homeless, while Barcelona now operates more than 400 climate shelters. In Berlin, police have used water cannons to cool streets, and Vienna has installed mist showers in public squares. Portugal’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro, described the situation as “exceptional” and requested aerial support from Morocco, Spain, and the European Union, though he stressed that national capacities were not yet exhausted.

As of Saturday, the Portuguese fire remained active, with 12 of the country’s 18 mainland districts under red alert and temperatures forecast to reach 44°C in some areas. The Catalan fire was partially contained but not yet under control, and confinement orders remained in place for seven municipalities. Investigations into the causes of both blazes are ongoing, and authorities caution that provisional death tolls from the heat are likely to rise.