Portugal has burned more than 216,000 hectares this year, according to Copernicus estimates.

Lisbon, Aug 18 (EFE).- A total of 216,214 hectares have burned in Portugal in fires this year, according to data collected by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) of Copernicus, updated this Monday.

According to information from this tool, part of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation and monitoring program, an average of 96,360 hectares have burned in Portugal each year since 2006, so the figure for 2025 is already higher.

The latest data released by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) on Monday indicates that more than 4,000 firefighters continue to respond to calls in Portugal, along with 1,300 ground and 13 air resources.

The largest fire of the day, with 1,261 firefighters deployed, has already begun burning in part of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, the largest natural park in Portugal, located in the Guarda region, bordering the Spanish province of Guarda.

This Wednesday marks the end of the state of emergency declared by the Portuguese government on August 3rd due to the heat wave that has affected the country for virtually the entire month of August, resulting in a critical rural fire situation, which claimed its first death last week.

Temperatures are expected to drop and the risk of fires to decrease throughout this week, a situation that will not return to normal until Thursday, according to the forecast of the National Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (IPMA). EFE