Spain is preparing for a national emergency as wildfires sweep across southern Europe after days of relentless heat.

A wildfire that broke out on Monday, August 11, near Madrid in the Tres Cantos area, killed one person and forced the evacuation of 180 residents. The blaze, fueled by a record-breaking heatwave affecting Spain and Portugal,

MADRID (Reuters) -Firefighters have contained a wildfire near the Spanish capital Madrid, in the Tres Cantos area, which injured one person and prompted the evacuation of 180 people, regional authorities said on Tuesday.

The European Union has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help battle raging wildfires, after the country activated the bloc's disaster assistance mechanism for the first time. The assistance comes as the country recorded a third wildfire-related death on Thursday morning.

MADRID - Firefighters have contained a wildfire near the Spanish capital Madrid, in the Tres Cantos area, which killed one person and prompted the evacuation of 180 people, regional authorities said on Tuesday.

The fire broke out in the town of Mentrida in the Castile-La Mancha region, around 30 miles southwest of the capital

Spain issues a wildfire pre-emergency: what the alert means, where fires are active, and quick safety steps to protect your family and travel plans.

A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon, while police arrested a man for allegedly starting a separate blaze as the country faced one of its worst summers for fires in 20 years.