July 2026 wildfire wave

July 2026 recorded 4,592 rural fire incidents across the country, with the highest concentration in the Centre region, particularly in the municipalities of Vouzela, Barcelos and the Tâmega e Sousa area.

The burned area exceeded 30,000 hectares, the highest figure recorded for this time of year since 2017, according to official data from the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests.

Forestry organizations point to accumulated scrub fuel and a lack of preventive forest management as factors that worsened the scale of the fires.