A RAGING inferno loomed over sun-loungers in Portugal as wildfires continue to spread through tourist hotspots.
More than 1,000 locals and holidaymakers have been evacuated as hundreds of firefighters battle the flames.
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Thousands of hectares of forest in southern Portugal have been razed by the huge blaze – which has now swept across to Algarve resorts.
Wildfires broke out on Saturday – but weather conditions hampered the efforts of emergency services.
Around 1,400 people had to be evacuated from the Algarve, one of Portugal’s top tourist destinations.
A dramatic image from neighbouring Alentejo region shows giant plumes of black smoke filling the sky above a row of vacant sunloungers by a pool.
The hotel was later gutted by a wildfire – with the destruction of Teima Alentejo SW in shocking pictures.
Luisa Botelho and her ex-husband Paulo Camacho turned it into an award-winning country hotel after buying the property nearly ten years ago.
Most of the main house is understood to have been destroyed by flames on Saturday.
The chic B&B was voted the best rural hotel in Portugal in 2017 and received the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award in 2021.
Revealing the damage the wildfire had caused, Luisa said: “Teima has been consumed by flames. This special place to which we dedicated all our lives now has a deep wound.
“We will be closed until this wound heals, until we are once again able to welcome our customers and friends as we always have.
“We will need everyone’s help so that we can shine again. We will provide updates soon.”
Overnight reports said six wildfires are still raging in Portugal.
It comes weeks after wildfires swept across Greek holiday islands Rhodes – forcing more than 20,000 holidaymakers and locals to flee
The flames burned for nearly a week as Greece was battered by a spell of extreme heat that made it challenging to contain the blaze.
But Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis insisted the island is now “back to normal”.
Weather experts have declared 2023 an El Niño year – a natural phenomenon that occurs cyclically and causes fluctuations in the global climate.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said it will raise temperatures around the world, and the effect is likely to continue for the rest of the year.
And despite the heat this summer, Europe’s record temperature of 48.8C – recorded in 2021 in Sicily – has not been reached and is currently not forecast to be broken.
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