Speaking to Lusa, the mayor of the municipality, Paulo Alves, said today that people were taken to the population service area installed at the Manuel Nascimento School, in Monchique.

"Some are still there, but the people who were in rural tourism have already left", he said, adding that the tourist unit where some people were staying is located in the Foz do Besteiro area.

According to Paulo Alves, the fire, which broke out on Saturday in the municipality of Odemira (Alentejan district of Beja), entered at the end of the afternoon in the area of Alcanforado, in the parish of Marmelete, in an area of confluence between the municipalities of Odemira, Aljezur and Monchique (Faro district).

"The prevailing wind was from the southeast, but it rotated, causing projections that formed a fire front that developed towards Marmelete. It was fought during the night by firefighters", he said.

According to the mayor, the high humidity at night that was felt in the area helped to fight the fire, although at 10:00 the president of that municipality still could not update the situation.

The work carried out overnight tonight to combat the rural fire allowed for “stabilisation of the fire perimeter”, but there are still two critical points to be concerned about, according to Civil Protection.