Spain is slowly recovering from a 16-day heatwave that led to the intense fires still ravaging numerous towns.

One of the country’s meteorology centers stated this was the “most intense [heatwave] on record.” Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes as five hundred troops attempted to control the flames. At the time of this article, four people have died as a result of the horrific wildfires, and some remain in critical condition. The affected towns: Galicia, Asturias, Extremadura, and many others reside in rural areas of the country where grass and shrubs are left unmanaged which added to the colossal extent of the flames. In addition,

police have arrested 31 people for suspected arson and 91 are currently being investigated.  

Other countries including Portugal, Greece and France are dealing with extreme wildfires as well. Many of the countries have called out to the EU Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) which provides additional aid to the affected countries.

In Spain, the organization deployed firefighting planes to continue managing the immense fires. For those within the country who have evacuated from their homes, the government is giving £500 and raising it up to £185,000 for ones who’ve lost their homes to the wildfires.

This is the worst wildfire season the country has seen since 1994 and Europe as a whole is warming twice as fast since then.

While there are many factors that have caused the disastrous fires Spain is seeing today, climate change is the one that will continue to impact the country. Until all the fires are put out, the country remains in a state of distress.