MADRID, May 19 (Reuters) - Emergency crews evacuated around 600 villagers in western Spain overnight as a wildfire blamed on arsonists ravaged up to 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) near the border with Portugal, officials said. "The are very strong gusts of wind ... that make efforts to extinguish it difficult," Military Emergency Unit commander David Barona told state TV channel 24H. "It's a very large attack on vegetation and the area," the head of Extremadura emergency services Nieves Villar told reporters, referring to the suspicions of arson. An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe coming after three years of below-average rainfall in Spain have raised the risk of wildfires. A total of 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares in Spain last year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

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