A devastating wildfire in south-western Spain continues to spread, regional authorities said on Monday.
The fire has been raging in the province of Huelva since Thursday. The regional government of Andalusia has estimated the affected area at more than 20,000 hectares. This corresponds to an area of 200 square kilometres.
It is not yet clear how much of this area has actually been destroyed by the flames.
The fire is currently "beyond the capacity of the fire services to extinguish" it, Andalusia's interior minister, Antonio Sanz, said.
This is not due to a lack of resources, but "because of the extreme and unpredictable behaviour of the flames", Sanz told journalists. The primary concern at present is "to protect people," he said, adding that a total of 479 people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Some 600 firefighters are continuing to battle the flames near the small town of Niebla, around 60 kilometres west of Seville.
In the hilly, partly inaccessible woodland area, they are being supported by more than 20 fire-fighting aircraft and helicopters. According to the fire service, firefighters managed to establish key defence lines overnight using controlled burns and heavy machinery.
The fire broke out on Thursday in the Raboconejo area, not far from Niebla, which has a population of 4,200, and has spread rapidly over the past few days.
Heat, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, and strong, shifting winds are making fire-fighting efforts particularly difficult.
Spain is experiencing an exceptional wildfire season this year. "Almost 200,000 hectares have been affected since the start of the year," said Sara Aagesen, minister for ecological transition, on Sunday during a visit to Huelva. She noted that 40 major fires have already been recorded in 2026. "Last year, there were 15 at this stage."
According to the Spanish wildfire website Incendios Forestales, 41 forest and wildfires were active across the country on Monday. Most were raging in the Valencia region in the east, as well as in Castile and León in the north-west of the country. However, the regions of Andalusia, Catalonia and Castile-La Mancha were also affected.