Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Scientists say that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness in parts of Europe, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.

A fourth person died as wildfires blaze on in Spain and parts of Europe worsened by sweltering heat fueled by effects of climate change. Spain's weather agency, Aemet, warned the public on Monday to be "cautious" of the "very high or extreme fire danger" in most of Spain as it reported high 108 degree Fahrenheit temperates on Sunday in Cadiz in the southern tip of Spain only miles to the Strait of Gibraltar.

The key to preventing forest fires is creating a rural economy based on the use of forests. While this would generate much-needed employment in “la España vaciada” – “hollowed-out Spain”, the name given to the country’s depopulated rural areas – it also costs money. It is therefore essential to invest in forests.

Spain's worst wave of wildfires on record spread to the southern slopes of the Picos de Europa mountains on Monday and prompted authorities to close part of the popular Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.

Spain is deploying 500 more soldiers to help battle wildfires that have ravaged parched woodlands during a prolonged heat wave, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

This year is turning into one of the worst fire seasons in recent memory in Europe. Firefighters are struggling to contain out-of-control wildfires in western Spain and Portugal.

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.

Spain continues to battle major wildfires on Sunday, especially in the north-western Galicia region where blazes have torn through parched forests for more than a week.