Portugal cuts area burned by wildfires 73.5% in 2026

Portugal has recorded fewer hectares burned by rural fires this year, but the number of fires has risen. Provisional data from the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, or ICNF, show that 67,130 hectares burned between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 73.5% less than in the same period of 2025.

Authorities registered 6,910 fires, 434 more than a year earlier. Forest areas accounted for 30,123 hectares, scrubland for 30,682 hectares and agricultural land for 6,325 hectares.

The figures make 2026 the fifth year of the past decade with the largest burned area by Aug. 31, and the sixth with the most fires. Compared with the average for the previous 10 years, however, the number of fires is down 15% and the burned area is down 25%.

Portugal recorded 68 large fires, defined as fires affecting at least 100 hectares. Although they represented a small share of all fires, they burned 55,370 hectares, roughly 82% of the total. The largest fires struck Vouzela in the Viseu district, where 12,804 hectares burned in early July, and Valpaços in Vila Real, where 11,619 hectares burned later that month.

July was the worst month so far, with 1,571 fires and 37,119 hectares burned. The ICNF has investigated 6,024 fires. About one-third of those investigations linked fires to agricultural or vegetation-waste burning and other uses of fire, while 19% were attributed to arson. The data may change as the agency completes its review.