Wildfires
Sure, no hurricanes or tornadoes. but
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As we’ve detailed, when deciding where to move we looked at many factors: cost of living, healthcare, environmental policy, how many protests there were about having to wear masks (0). For each, Portugal was 1, 2, or 3.
Portugal not being Magic Land, there are lists where Portugal wasn’t at the top. One of those was wildfires.1 We’ve lived in Connecticut, where we had some significant hurricanes, ice storms, and nor-easters. (So you lose power for a month. Been there, done that.) We lived in St. Louis, in tornado alley. (Honestly, unless you are one of the Unlucky Ones, the worst that happens is you’ll lose power for a while.) And a large fault line. (The epicenter of the New Madrid earthquake of 1811 and 1812 was located 145 miles/243 km from St. Louis.) But wildfires? We hadn’t lived near them. Now that we’ve been here three years, let’s take a look at what living in an area prone to wildfire is like.
So, really, how bad is Portugal?
Here’s a statistic to keep you awake at night: Portugal is sometimes listed as having the most wildfires in Europe and sometimes among the top three - Portugal, Spain, and Greece. From 2006 - 2024, Portugal’s amount of land burned - expressed as percentage of territory - was 1.05%. Spain boasts .68%. And I’m sure you’ve heard many a headline about the Greece fires. Their percentage is .38.2
Let’s try to put some context around that. This map shows you the expected wildfire burn risk by region. Notice that farrr-left Portugal is yellow. As you can see, it’s clearly not the worst in the world. So if I’m from California, I’d likely feel a little less nervous.
Why is Portugal so at risk?
As I’ve seen since I’ve been here, Portugal has super dry summers. As a gardener, the dryness - and the ground cracking - is painful. My first year was surreal - I didn’t know you could go that long without rain! Plus, those summers can get pretty warm. Ok, hot. This past year we had multiple days above 100f/37c. Now, it doesn’t feel like St. Louis’s hot, since the humidity doesn’t turn your lungs into machines desperately searching for oxygen among the water. Unfortunately, that heat - and that lack of humidity - does mean that parts of Portugal have an ideal climate for the creation of wildfires: high temps, low humidity, and high winds.
This map shows the hottest parts of Portugal - the mean summer temperature. You can see that the coasts are lovely, but the interior is… warm.
The composition of Portugal’s forests is a significant factor in Portugal’s wildfire risk. Three quarters of Portugal’s forests are made up of Eucalyptus, pines, and cork. Eucalyptus trees are prone to fire. The bark flakes off, leaving lovely little mini-campfires, just waiting for a spark. Plus, there’s a lot of oil in these trees. Eucalyptus oil has to come from somewhere. Joining Eucalyptus on the list of the most flammable trees are pine trees. So. There’s that.
Some reasons behind Portugal’s high risk factor lie in the country’s past. Under the 20th century dictatorship, two initiatives made Portugal more susceptible to wildfire.3 First was the Wheat Campaign, which encouraged farmers to grow wheat, so that Portugual could be more self-sufficient in its food production. The intention was for farmers to shift from growing other crops to growing wheat. Farmers did plant wheat, but did so by expanding into heathlands that had not previously been cultivated. The heathlands were an ecosystem that was stable and growing on some of Portugal’s worst soils. Turning this ecosystem into agriculture led to widespread soil degredation and severe erosion. That, in turn, increases wildfire risk.
As if that wasn’t enough, the common lands of the north were turned into forest. Which sounds good, right? Land that’s just sitting there. (Ok, maybe supporting cows and sheep, but what does a dictatorship care about that when they’re after new industries like wood production and generating energy?) Except rather than planting a healthy forest, they went for pine trees, in a big way. One of the most flammable trees out there, and not tempered by trees of different ages and species.
Pro tip: Planting monoculture never ends well.
Imagine you’ve been successfully feeding your family by having cows or sheep on the common lands and suddenly it’s turned into forest. You need to make a living, so … off to the city you go. The Afforestation Plan led to the start of the rural population’s exodus to the cities, leaving masses of rural lands and homes and farms untended. If you live in a fire-prone area, what do they say to do? #1 is remove weeds, brush, and vegetation. Kinda hard to keep up on that from the city, eh?
How it affects our life
At the time we were thinking of moving here, my research showed that larger cities and towns have much less risk than I expected, due to most (all?) buildings made of stone and cement. The roofs? Clay tile. Their yards, well, in these downtown areas there aren’t many. Roads are macadam or stone. Sidewalks are calcetines - stone. Fires, I understood, tend to pass by these places as there’s just nothing for them to latch onto. Since we’ve moved here, we haven’t once been remotely close to fire. I do not worry about my home burning, or Lisbon burning.
However, these wildfires can send a crap-ton (certified Missourah way of saying a lot) of smoke into the atmosphere. Do my asthmatic lungs enjoy that? Nosirree, they do not. Does my camera enjoy the amazing sunsets we get? Youbetcha. My faulty memory is guessing that on average over the past three years, there have been about two to three days a year where we get significant smoke from fire.
Political Fallout
Is it just me or does it seem like we need to point fingers and assign blame for natural disasters? This year in particular, the Portuguese ruling party, XXX, has come in for some hits.
Politicians tap dance their way through wildfires. August is securely in the middle of wildfire season. August is also National Vacation Month here.4 Politicians cut their vacations short when the wildfires arrive so as to not appear insensitive, uncallous, and not in charge of the situation. A normally savvy politician, our Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, didn’t get that memo. While homeowners were scrambling to save their homes and farms, he was photographed enjoying the sun and sand of the Algarve.
He then followed it up by attending Festa do Pontal, a blow-out party for the Social Democrat Party (PSD), of which he is a member. Predictable outrage ensued. Not surprisingly, the dreaded, far-right CHEGA party has seen a boost in the polls.
Climate Change
Historically, Portugal’s wildfire season has started in mid-July and runs for 11 weeks, to mid-September. With climate change, that season has increased by at least two weeks.5 And the likelihood of these fires increases about 40%, and the severity by 30%.6
That’s all for now.
Love from Lisbon,
Amy
Today’s Weather Report
New Feature!
Partly cloudy, high of 88 and low of 63.
I’m using the term wildfire because it is more inclusive. We’re not talking just forests here.
https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2025-08-20/portugal-has-highest-percentage-of-burned-area-in-europe/602335#:~:text=Portugal%20is%20the%20European%20Union,country%20already%20destroyed%20by%20flames.
https://therevelator.org/portugal-wildfires-authoritarian/
Not officially, but it sure feels like it!
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020RG000726
https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/extreme-fire-weather-conditions-in-spain-and-portugal-now-common-due-to-climate-change/#:~:text=Compared%20to%20a%201.3%C2%B0,500%20years%20without%20climate%20change.
Terrific post! And thanks for including the story about Irvine’s fire prevention. Now if the rest of California governments paid attention to Irvine’s accomplishments, that would be a lovely thing for the residents. If you need tips on how to deal with fire smoke, let us know.
Chris Christie comes to mind. 😉
XOXO