The key to preventing forest fires is creating a rural economy based on the use of forests. While this would generate much-needed employment in “la España vaciada” – “hollowed-out Spain”, the name given to the country’s depopulated rural areas – it also costs money. It is therefore essential to invest in forests.

Spain's weather agency warned the public on Monday to be "cautious" of the "very high or extreme fire danger."

A heatwave is continuing to affect the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to battle ongoing blazes and towns have been evacuated. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited affected regions to meet with the heads of emergency teams.

This year is turning into one of the worst fire seasons in recent memory in Europe. Firefighters are struggling to contain out-of-control wildfires in western Spain and Portugal.

Spain deploys 500 additional soldiers to fight devastating wildfires as extreme heat fuels blazes across Europe.

The European Commission is deploying firefighting aircraft to Spain, where at least seven have died as 14 wildfires have flared amid a European heat wave.

The death toll is now at two in Portugal and four in Spain as the fires burn for a second week, according to AFP. The fires are largely located in the northwest regions of Galicia, Castile and León, and Extremadura. More than 31,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes in Spain due to the fires, according to The Guardian .