A man has died in a forest fire in the town of Tres Cantos, a suburb north of Madrid, Spanish authorities announced on Tuesday, having activated the pre-emergency level due to the several active fires in the country.

The 50-year-old man, who suffered burns to 98% of his body on Monday, is the first fatal victim of the several fires affecting Spain in the midst of a heatwave.

"I deeply regret the death of the man who was seriously injured in the Tres Cantos forest fire," 23 kilometers north of the capital, wrote the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, on social media, quoted by the France-Presse news agency (AFP).

Hundreds of residents were evacuated from the affected neighborhood, authorities said.

Madrid region's environmental advisor, Carlos Novillo, told reporters overnight that the fire spread six kilometers in just 40 minutes.

Madrid regional authorities announced this morning on social media that the fight against the fire had progressed favorably overnight and that the fire was contained.

But the beaches of Tarifa, in Andalusia (south), were once again threatened by flames coming from the forests of the neighboring mountains, forcing thousands of tourists to quickly abandon the area.

These two new fires join dozens of others in Spain that were active this morning, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

This series of fires coincides with the heat wave that entered its tenth day today, with all regions on alert, including those in the North.

Maximum temperatures are 40 degrees Celsius (°C) and nighttime temperatures do not drop below 25 °C.

In light of the situation, the Ministry of the Interior activated level one of two of the Operational Situation of the State General Emergency Plan (PLEGEM) in the early hours of the morning and declared the pre-emergency phase.

The decision aims to analyze and coordinate the mobilization of resources to help the affected autonomous communities, according to the Spanish news agency Europa Press.

Virginia Barcones, Director General of Civil Protection and Emergencies at the Ministry of the Interior, has called a meeting of the State Committee for Coordination and Management of Forest Fires in the coming hours to assess the situation.

Firefighters were battling multiple fires this morning in the autonomous communities of Madrid, Andalusia, Castile-León, Castile-La Mancha, Galicia and Extremadura, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.

The head of government, Pedro Sánchez, lamented the death of the man near Madrid and considered the situation to be one of"extreme risk", which therefore requires"great caution".

Sánchez also expressed his appreciation for the professionals involved in fighting the fires in a message posted today on social media.

He specifically mentioned the brigades of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the Military Emergency Unit (UME), Civil Protection, the National Police, the Civil Guard, firefighters and “other emergency services that are working tirelessly.”