French firefighters said Thursday they were hoping to halt the country's biggest wildfire this summer that has left one person dead and destroyed several thousand hectares of land and dozens of homes in the south.

With Europe facing new August heatwaves as concerns grow over the impact of global warming, many areas are on alert for wildfires.

Regional authorities in Spain said late Wednesday that a wildfire near the Mediterranean tourist town of Tarifa that prompted evacuations had been stabilised.

Around 2,000 firefighters were still mobilised Thursday in France's southern Aude department to contain the blaze that started Tuesday. Thirteen people have been injured, two of them seriously.

"The objective is to stabilise the fire" and halt its progress by the end of the day, said Christo

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