Deadly Fires Sweep Portugal and Northern Spain<br />Bay of Biscay FRANCE GALICIA ASTURIAS Barcelona Vigo SPAIN Madrid Pedrógão Grande PORTUGAL Mediterranean Sea Strait of Gibraltar ALGERIA Active fires in Spain<br />and Portugal, 15-16 October Atlantic Ocean MOROCCO OCT. 16, 2017<br />Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Galicia, said on Monday that many of the fires had started as acts of arson.<br />16, 2017<br />MADRID — At least 35 people have been killed and dozens more injured by wildfires in Portugal<br />and northern Spain, as strong winds from a hurricane fanned hundreds of blazes sweeping across densely forested territory.<br />Asked to justify the decision, Mr. Feijóo had said at a news conference<br />that the risk of fire along the Atlantic coast had "lowered significantly." Portugal’s forests have been burning repeatedly during an unusually dry and warm summer.<br />Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, traveled on Monday to his home<br />region, where the authorities confirmed that at least four people had died.<br />"The rain has now been helping us," Ángel Rodal, the mayor of Baiona, told the<br />television channel Antena 3 early Monday, as flames neared his coastal town.<br />In a post on Twitter, Mr. Rajoy said he gone to the region in the name of the Spanish people<br />to express his condolences for those who died and to offer support for those affected.
