Spain and Portugal battle wave of wildfires as temperatures expected to rise

Firefighters work as a fire progresses in A Caniza, Pontevedra province, north-west Spain (Adrian Irago/Europa Press via AP)

Thousands of firefighters in Spain and Portugal are battling an ongoing wave of wildfires, some of which have been burning for days as temperatures are expected to rise in the Iberian Peninsula.

In central Spain, firefighters and a special military unit worked overnight to control blazes in the province of Avila, focusing on confining a fire burning near the village of El Arenal, about 100km (62 miles) west of Madrid, emergency services said.