The money is to be paid to farmers in the municipalities of Figueiró dos Vinhos, Castanheira de Pera and Pedrógão Grande, the fund said in a statement posted on its website.

The aim of the grants, it said, is to help with “the recovery of the activity of farms and subsistence agriculture, so [helping] farmers who suffered damages of more than 1,053 euros and less than 5,000 euros."

The grants are to meet needs “duly identified [that are] not covered by public policy measures directed at the areas and residents affected by the fires, contributing directly to the well-being of residents and the revitalisation of the affected areas.”

The fire that broke out in Pedrógão Grande, in Leiria district, on 17 June claimed at least 64 lives and left more than 200 people injured. It was only finally extinguished a week later.

More than 2,000 fire fighters were called on to battle the flames, which consumed 53,000 hectares of forest – the equivalent of some 75,000 football pitches.