The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares or 610 square miles, according to the European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London.

By Michael Francis Gore, Charlie Devereux and Ana CanteroVILLANUEVA DE LA SIERRA, Spain (Reuters) -Spain battled 14 major fires driven by high winds and aggravated by heat on Friday as authorities warned of "unfavourable conditions" to tackle flames that have already killed seven people and burned an area the size of London.

Firefighters in Spain continued to battle major forest fires in at least 16 locations on Friday, as the country reels from one of its most devastating summers yet, according to the Interior Ministry.