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

Firefighters and military units are struggling to contain wildfires in northwest and western Spain as a prolonged heatwave intensifies the crisis.

Spain is battling a series of devastating wildfires that have killed two people and destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and scrubland. There are currently 14 major active fires, Minister for Ecological Transition Sara Aagesen told radio station Cadena Ser on Wednesday.