Spain had previously evacuated tens of thousands of residents from villages west of the capital Madrid. Here, extremely dry conditions were further exacerbated by heatwaves and strong winds.
In the Valencia region, on Spain’s eastern coast, officials said they were struggling to control the fires.
“The fire exceeds our capacity to extinguish it; its perimeter is about 21 kilometers. It is still difficult to determine the number of hectares burned,” Juanfrán Pérez Llorca, president of the Valencia region, told reporters late Saturday.
“We have evacuated about 15,000 people,” he said.
Spanish officials also ordered new evacuations around Toledo, southwest of Madrid, on Saturday. They described the situation as complex, as wind gusts are pushing the fire south.
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Fires in southwestern France forced 250,000 people to leave their homes and campsites – one of the largest evacuations in the country during peacetime.
Around Madrid, about 60,000 people have already been evacuated, where Spanish ground teams are being assisted by firefighting planes from Portugal, Italy, and other countries.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said firefighters are working to save lives. One person was reportedly killed in a separate fire in eastern Spain.
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