“We still have some hot spots and we are consolidating them in the Vacaria and Barracão areas and also some small spots to the north. Only when these points start ease will we start the aftermath phase”, said Tiago Bugio, sub-regional commander of Emergency and Civil Protection of the Alentejo Litoral.

According to the website of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), at 11:30 am the fire was still being fought by 684 operators, helped by 230 vehicles and five air assets.

The rural fire in an area of bush and pine forest broke out in the Baiona area, in the parish of São Teotónio, municipality of Odemira, in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday and entered the Algarve municipalities of Monchique and Aljezur.

The burned area amounts to about 8,400 hectares.