Spanish wildfire hero dies three months after being engulfed in flames

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish man who suffered 80% burns as he dug a trench to stop a wildfire from reaching his hometown has died from his injuries three months later, his friends said on Tuesday.

Angel Martin Arjona, 50, the owner of a construction warehouse in Tabara, was seen abandoning his digger and running through a field with his clothes alight after it was engulfed in flames on July 18.

His friend Jose Manuel Taba confirmed he died on Monday after being in hospital in Valladolid central Spain since then.

"The skin grafts were successful but unfortunately there were complications," mechanic Juan Lozano, a childhood friend of Arjona, added.

Locals had hailed him as a hero in July and Lozano said the town had declared three days of mourning in his honour.

The blaze started in Losacio in the northwestern province of Zamora on July 17.

It was one of the biggest in Spain in 2022, burning around 26,000 hectares. Four people died, including Arjona.

Climate change is exacerbating fires as an increasing number of heatwaves create conditions that help them spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely. Hotter weather saps moisture from vegetation, turning it into dry fuel - a problem exacerbated by shrinking workforces in rural areas of Spain that are needed to clear vegetation.

So far this year 260,000 hectares (642,500 acres) have been destroyed by fires across Spain, making it the worst year for wildfires in almost three decades, according to government figures.

Wildfires throughout Europe have burned 775,941 hectares this year, the second-largest area on record, according to data from the European Union's Joint Research Centre.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Additional reporting by Guillermo Martinez; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Alison Williams)