In neighbouring Portugal, where fires are also blazing, another firefighter was killed on Sunday in a "tragic" traffic accident, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said. Fires have also broken out in Greece, France, Turkey and the Balkans as a heatwave has scorched swathes of southern Europe.

Two firefighters have been killed in Spain and Portugal, the authorities said on Monday, as wildfires ravage the Iberian Peninsula during a sweltering heatwave.

Thousands of firefighters worked overnight to contain dozens of deadly wildfires burning across Spain and Portugal as heat and gusty winds spread blazes through dry brush, forests and crops.