Spain's wildfires almost vanquished: official

Madrid: Spain has almost beaten back wildfires that have swept across the country this month, killing four people and ravaging huge swathes of land, t...

Madrid: Spain has almost beaten back wildfires that have swept across the country this month, killing four people and ravaging huge swathes of land, the head of its civil protection and emergencies service said Saturday.

"There are fewer of them, and the end is a lot nearer," the official, Virginia Barcones, told state television network TVE.

The ones remaining were still very "treacherous", she said, however, and "we will need a final push to be done with this horrible situation".

Spanish firefighters, helped by other EU countries, have for weeks been battling blazes that have scorched more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) over the past two weeks, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

The regions hardest hit were in the north and the west: Castile and Leon, Extremadura, and Galicia. The wildfires flared during a heatwave that baked the country for two weeks, sending temperatures to 40C and above.