Firefighting units from Germany arrived in northern Spain<\/a> to join several other EU national forces helping to fight the blazes, the interior ministry said.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez said there were \u201cstill critical moments ahead\u201d. \u201cLet us not be overconfident\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009there are still difficult hours.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that once the fires were extinguished his government would assess the economic impact and activate the disaster mechanism, which he expected to take place by next Tuesday.<\/p>\n Climate change<\/a> had exacerbated extreme weather events, he said, proposing a \u201cstate pact\u201d involving science, business, state and local institutions in shaping a collective response to the \u201cclimate emergency\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cScience tells us so, and common sense tells us so as well, especially that of farmers and\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009those who live in rural areas, that the climate is changing, that the climate emergency is worsening, that it is becoming more recurrent, more frequent, and each time has a greater impact.\u201d<\/p>\n A group of residents cursed and shouted at S\u00e1nchez as he departed Zamora on Tuesday, media videos showed, angry at what they believed to be the slow government response. Spain had called on EU forces<\/a> for help for the first time after its own capabilities were overwhelmed last week.<\/p>\n The north-western provinces including Zamora and Le\u00f3n, Galicia\u2019s Ourense province, and C\u00e1ceres in the south-western region of Extremadura have been surrounded by fires for more than a week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Spanish army has deployed about 2,000 troops to help firefighters, and four people have died, while thousands of residents were evacuated.<\/p>\n Transport links including the Galicia-Madrid train line were interrupted, and many roads were closed. A stretch of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage walking route was also blocked.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s weather agency said the heatwave was the third longest on record. The fires have burned more than 382,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, or about twice metropolitan London.<\/p>\n Across Europe this summer, fires including those in Greece, Turkey and several Balkan countries have burned more land than in any year since 2006, according to agency estimates.<\/p>\n Graphics by Steven Bernard<\/p>\n Climate Capital Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT\u2019s coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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