Spain has endured the worst fire season on record, with devastating blazes continuing to destroy homes and land across the country.

Spanish firefighters are still battling 12 major and active wildfires in the northwestern Galicia region as much of southern Europe reels from record hot temperatures. View on euronews

It also exceeds the area burned in 2023 - 91,220 hectares in 371 fires - and far exceeds the figures recorded in 2022, until now considered the worst year in terms of area burned by forest fires in the country: 306,555 hectares in 493 fires.

Joaquín Ramírez of Technosylva, a Spanish company that specialises in prevention and response to wildfires, attributed this year’s litany of fires to “a combination of abandonment of rural areas, abandonment of managing [the land] and the stress exerted on our forest areas”.

Defence minister attributes fires to climate change, heat wave. The Interior ministry said 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June.

King Felipe of Spain was forced to cut his summer vacation short this week to deal with a national emergency back at home.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has interrupted his summer holiday to visit regions hit hardest by severe wildfires in the country's north-west. Sánchez was due to travel on Sunday afternoon to the provinces of Ourense and León,