A total of 1,900 firefighters fight the fire. The most alarming fires are in Aveiro (North), Leiria (Center), Faro (South) and Setúbal, 50 kilometers south of the capital Lisbon. “A country on fire,” wrote Jornal de Notícias newspaper on its front page.
The alert level will remain at the highest level of a “state of emergency” at least until Saturday, Prime Minister António Costa announced. The country is also experiencing a heat wave, with temperatures reaching 45 degrees.
Campfires and fireworks are currently banned in Portugal and access to the forests is restricted.
The fires are still being fueled by the ongoing drought and strong winds, civil defense said. Some fires were also caused by negligence or even deliberately lit. People have already been arrested.
At least 130 people were injured in the fires, two of them in serious condition. According to the environmental agency INCF, nearly 100 square kilometers of forest have been destroyed since Saturday. Homes, factories and golf courses have also been destroyed.