Eduardo Cabrita's announcement was made at a press conference held by the National Civil Protection Authority (ANPC) on Tuesday morning, in which he said the combat strategy for Monchique fire would be stepped up to a “national level of coordination” under the authority of the National Command of the National Civil Protection Authority.

Admitting that firefighting “is going on in very adverse conditions”, the minister praised the “remarkable response” in both Monchique and other “dangerous-scale” fires, such as that which struck Saturday in the Vale do Tejo area and which was “quickly brought to the aftermath phase”.

“There has been a very significant operational intervention”, said Eduardo Cabrita, recalling that since the beginning of the year there have been more than seven thousand fires, none of which caused victims.

However, he noted that, at the moment, “it is time for combat and not for tallying up”.