Spain was heading for the hottest early summer temperatures in decades on Saturday, with 40-42 degrees Celsius (104-108 Fahrenheit) forecast for Zaragoza in the northeast and parts of Navarre. and La Rioja in northern Spain, according to national weather agency AEMET.
In recent days, many parts of Western Europe have suffered from unseasonably high temperatures, heightening fears of climate change.
In Spain, Zamora, near the border with Portugal, and Catalonia, to the east, were among the hardest hit by forest fires.
No deaths or injuries have been reported.
“The night was hard and the work intense,” said a tweet from the regional government of Castile and Lon, where Zamora is located.
He said nearly 20,000 hectares of land had been burned in the Sierra de la Culebra mountain range and the fire was “still active”.
In Catalonia, firefighters trying to bring a Baldomar blaze under control said they expected Saturday to be “complicated” by “very high temperatures and a strong southerly wind”.
Flames crackle and rage through the air on the outskirts of the village of Caudiel, Castellon, in eastern Spain.
Firefighters, who wore masks, goggles and helmets, struggled to bring the blazes under control. They helped evacuate residents, some of whom dragged their dogs and horses, as smoke rose in the village.
Tolde, south-west of Madrid, the Puy du Fou theme park evacuated more than 3,000 people on Friday as the fires moved closer to its perimeter.