Thousands of firefighters backed by soldiers and water-bombing aircraft on Monday battled over 20 major wildfires raging across western Spain, where officials say a record area of land has already been burnt.

Spain is preparing for a national emergency as wildfires sweep across southern Europe after days of relentless heat.

Spain is deploying 500 more soldiers to help battle wildfires that have ravaged parched woodlands during a prolonged heat wave, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

The head of Spain’s Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, told broadcaster TVE there were currently 23 “active fires” that pose a serious and direct threat to the population. The fires, now in their second week, were concentrated in the northwest regions of Galicia, Castile and Leon, and Extremadura.

The fire was brought under control overnight, after a blaze in the Tres Cantos area killed one person and prompted evacuations, the authorities said.View on euronews

A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon, while police arrested a man for allegedly starting a separate blaze as the country faced one of its worst summers for fires in 20 years.

A heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit, on several days this month was expected to last through Monday.

Spain travel disruption wildfires halt high-speed trains in Galicia, stranding passengers and affecting routes to Santiago and Madrid this week.

Firefighters across Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans were battling wildfires on Tuesday, with another heatwave pushing temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of Europe.