Fires rage across Portugal

Forest fires raged across Portugal today, scorching the popular Algarve tourist region in the south and bearing down on one town.

The Algarve is one of the worst hit areas, and reports said one-third of the area’s woodland had burned.

Firefighters said that in one area, the blaze was spreading toward the beach resort town of Tavira on the southern coast.

Several hundred people were evacuated from the Algarve mountain village of Sao Bras de Alportel, 18 miles north of the coastal city of Faro.

About 650 firefighters with helicopters and water-dumping planes battled to control the flames.

Portuguese authorities have so far refused to say how much land has been burned in the latest batch of fires this week, but firefighters and news reports place the figure in the tens of thousands of acres.

On Thursday, the Algarve fire was said to have a front stretching 50 miles and getting longer. Fifteen fires in all were reported throughout the country today.

Last year, fires in Portugal destroyed 424,000 hectares (1 million acres), killing 18 people and damaging 2,500 buildings.

In neighbouring Spain, firefighters said they had brought under control a massive blaze that destroyed 65,000 acres this week in the southern province of Huelva, which borders the Algarve.

Two people died in that fire and police said they suspected the fire may have been caused intentionally and there could be arrests soon.