All Fired Up

JOSE MANUEL RIBEIRO / REUTERS

PARCHED: Villagers in northern Portugal fight a fire

In much of southern Europe, desiccated by one of the worst droughts of the last 60 years, wildfires are raging — and tempers are rising. All of Portugal, where fires are consuming an estimated 1,000 hectares a day, has been declared a severe drought zone. Spain, where rainfall in the first half of the year was 35% below average, is still in a political clinch over a July 16 blaze that killed 11 firefighters; the opposition Popular Party claims the Socialist government didn't act quickly enough to bring the situation under control. Such political battles could intensify, since experts warn that...

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