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.

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's worst wave of wildfires on record spread to the southern slopes of the Picos de Europa mountains on Monday (Aug 18) and prompted authorities to close part of the popular C

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.

Defence minister attributes fires to climate change, heat wave. The Interior ministry said 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June.

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

Deadly wildfires ravaging Spain have burnt the equivalent of nearly half a million football fields this year, setting a new record for the country, a European monitor said Monday.

Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades, and Spain is among the hardest-hit countries.