The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares or 610 square miles, according to the European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London.

Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece battled ongoing wildfires Friday, an important religious holiday in all three countries, as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.

Portugal suffered its first death Friday from the fires raging there, as Spain's weather agency warned of a "very high to extreme risk" of more wildfires there during Europe's intense heatwave. The risk of fires on Friday and over the weekend through to Monday was "very high or extreme in most of the country",