Spain battles record wildfires even
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Spain has endured the worst fire season on record, with devastating blazes continuing to destroy homes and land across the country.
GONDULFES, Spain (Reuters) -Wildfires raging in northern and western Spain have burned through nearly the same area in the past 24 hours as in all of last year, although the end of a 16-day heatwave and expected rainfall have fanned hopes that an end may be in sight.
Illuminated by flames, Spanish firefighters battle wildfires that have been raging throughout the country's west and northwest for over a week. The bulk of the devastation -- with 373,000 hectares burnt -- has taken place in the northwestern provinces of Zamora and Leon,
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”.
Up to 20 major wildfires are burning in total, the majority in Spain's northwestern region of Galicia, while there are several blazes in neighbouring Portugal.