Portugal’s Deadly Wildfires Are Rooted in Its Authoritarian Past
More than 50 years after the fall of Portugal’s dictatorship, the authoritarian regime still casts a long shadow over this wildfire-prone country.
By The Revelator and Eden Flaherty
Wildfires tore through central and northern Portugal this September, burning more than 350 square miles in a matter of days. Nine people were killed. As many as 11,300 were affected, according to the European Union’s Copernicus system.
While these are some of the worst blazes in recent years, wildfires sweep through Portugal every summer, burning an average of just over 1% of the country annually — more than double that of the second-most affected EU country, Greece.
As the climate changes, these fires are only getting worse, says doctoral researcher Tiago Ermitão from the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere, who studies how vegetation recovers after fires. He adds that hot and dry conditions, “mainly caused by anthropogenic activities,” have significantly increased fire susceptibility and risk in Portugal in recent years.
But what makes this small country on the edge of the Atlantic so vulnerable?
