A luxury resort in Portugal where former England stars John Terry and Steven Gerrard have homes was evacuated today as a fire threatened the homes of millionaires. About 70 people were told to leave their properties before midday as flames and thick smoke threatened luxury villas in an area called Pinheiros Altos, which is part of the well-known Quinta do Lago resort. By early this afternoon, the evacuation was extending across the entire eastern wing of the resort and several roads in the area had been closed. It comes after Portugal declared a state of alert on Monday due to wildfires ravaging the country, with the current danger said to be the worst in decades. The flames at Quinta do Lago were just 500 meters from an £8.5m Algarve mansion believed to belong to Roman Abramovich, which became the focus of a Portuguese government investigation in May. Portugal’s Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho confirmed the government had “frozen” the six-bed villa in the exclusive housing estate after receiving a bank notice of an attempt to sell it two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Portugal has suffered from extreme heat this week – and it’s only going to get worse. This shows Boe Vista yesterday (Image: EPA) Extreme temperatures are likely to reach the UK from Sunday (Image: EPA) A World Meteorological Organization map shows intense heat in Portugal and Spain yesterday where fires are burning across Portugal, France and Spain (Image: Getty/Metro) The fire started late last night near the University of the Algarve and in an area where a four-day international motorcycle festival is about to start. Nearly 250 firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground and from the air. People evacuated from their homes, said to include residents as well as holidaymakers, were initially taken to a shopping center in the Quinta do Lago resort away from the area where firefighters are focused. Emergency workers said the evacuations were carried out partly because of the proximity to the flames but mostly because of the smoke. Nearly 3,000 firefighters are battling 50 fires in mainland Portugal. Climatologist Carlos da Camara said earlier this week that the risk of wildfires was the highest in 42 years. A forest fire in June 2017 that broke out near the town of Pedrogao Grande in central Portugal killed 64 people and injured more than 250. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
