Hundreds of residents from several municipalities were ordered to evacuate, while around 400 emergency personnel worked to contain the fires, which together have burned several thousand hectares. Regional authorities warned that bringing the largest blaze under control could take several days. The emergency comes after a deadly wildfire in Almería province, in the southern region of Andalusia, that killed more than a dozen people and scorched over 7,000 hectares. Crews were also tackling a separate fire near Lozoyuela, north of Madrid, where several communities were evacuated, around 2,000 people were ordered to remain indoors under confinement alerts, and Spain’s Civil Guard arrested a man suspected of starting the blaze. Spain and France have recorded unusually severe wildfire activity this summer after prolonged heat and dry conditions, with Spanish fires already burning close to or above double the usual area for this point in the season, while wildfires have also broken out in parts of Britain.