Relative to its size, Portugal is one of the European countries worst hit by wildfires. Almost every summer, images of burning hills, evacuated villages and exhausted firefighters go round the world. Understanding why means understanding a great deal about the country: its rural history, emigration, the timber economy and a changing climate.
2017, the year of tragedy
On 17 June 2017, a fire that broke out near Pedrógão Grande, in the centre of the country, spread with frightening speed on a day of extreme heat and violent winds. 66 people died, many trapped in their cars on a national road as they tried to flee. Four months later, on 15 October, dozens of simultaneous fires in the centre and north killed around 50 more. In all, about half a million hectares burned in 2017 and more than a hundred people died: it was the shock that pushed the country to rethink forest management. Major fires have continued since, such as the one at Monchique in the Algarve in 2018 and those of summer 2025, among the most extensive in recent years.
Why Portugal burns
The causes are many and intertwined:
- Eucalyptus: Portugal has one of the largest eucalyptus areas in Europe, planted from the twentieth century onwards to feed the paper and pulp industry, one of the main sectors of the economy. Eucalyptus grows fast but is highly flammable, and its leaves and bark help fire spread. The same goes for large maritime pine forests.
- Rural abandonment: emigration and the depopulation of the interior have left thousands of plots uncultivated, where scrub grows and becomes fuel. Ownership is fragmented into millions of small plots, often belonging to elderly or emigrant owners, which are hard to manage.
- Climate: ever hotter, drier summers, heatwaves and strong winds make fires more frequent, more intense and harder to control.
- Human causes: most fires are started by people, through negligence (agricultural burning, machinery, cigarette ends) and sometimes deliberately.
The reforms
After 2017 Portugal created a national agency for integrated rural fire management and strengthened prevention: compulsory clearing of vegetation around houses and villages, limits on new eucalyptus plantations, programmes such as "Aldeia Segura" to prepare villages for evacuation, and more aircraft. The results show in some years, but transforming the forest landscape takes decades.
Advice for travellers
In the hottest months, from June to October, check the fire risk published daily by the IPMA weather institute, and avoid forest hikes on alert days. Outdoor fires are banned across most of the country during the critical period. In an emergency, call 112. For an overview of the climate, see the climate in Portugal.