Morocco has dispatched two Canadair water-bombing planes to Portugal to help battle fast-spreading wildfires that have injured at least 17 people and scorched large swathes of land. Portugal’s Ministry of Internal Administration confirmed Monday that the aircraft were sent under a civil protection cooperation agreement after two of Portugal’s rented planes broke down. An initial request to Spain was declined as Spanish crews were already stretched thin by their own wildfires.
The Moroccan planes joined more than 650 firefighters, 226 vehicles, and six helicopters fighting a massive blaze in Trancoso, northern Portugal. Another 400 firefighters are battling flames in Covilhã, further south. This summer, wildfires have raged across the Mediterranean, hitting countries from France and Greece to Albania, Syria, and Turkey. The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) reports that over 400,000 hectares have burned in the EU so far in 2025—more than double the area lost by this time last year.
Experts warn that while the Mediterranean’s dry climate has always made it vulnerable, climate change is intensifying the crisis, making fires more frequent, larger, and harder to control.
