The fire was brought under control overnight, after a blaze in the Tres Cantos area killed one person and prompted evacuations, the authorities said.View on euronews

Spain is preparing for a national emergency as wildfires sweep across southern Europe after days of relentless heat.

MADRID (Reuters) -Firefighters have contained a wildfire near the Spanish capital Madrid, in the Tres Cantos area, which injured one person and prompted the evacuation of 180 people, regional authorities said on Tuesday.

MADRID - Firefighters have contained a wildfire near the Spanish capital Madrid, in the Tres Cantos area, which killed one person and prompted the evacuation of 180 people, regional authorities said on Tuesday.

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.

The European Union has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help battle raging wildfires, after the country activated the bloc's disaster assistance mechanism for the first time. The assistance comes as the country recorded a third wildfire-related death on Thursday morning.

A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon, while police arrested a man for allegedly starting a separate blaze as the country faced one of its worst summers for fires in 20 years.