Today in Spain: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Seven migrants found dead on Spanish beaches

Seven migrants were found dead on two beaches in southern Spain on Wednesday after their boats sank.

Six bodies were discovered at dawn on Los Muertos beach in Carboneras in the southern region of Andalusia, while another was found on the nearby Las Salinas beach in Cabo de Gata, a source close to the investigation said.

The shipwrecks happened overnight but the bodies were discovered at dawn.

Twenty-six migrants were rescued from a boat which ran aground on the Los Muertos beach. It was not clear how many people in total were travelling on it.

The other boat which reached Cabo da Gata was carrying 38 people.

The authorities have not ruled out the possibility of finding more bodies in the area in the coming hours.

The migrants are believed to have departed from Algeria, the source said.

Spain is one of the three main entry points for irregular migrants heading for Europe, along with Italy and Greece.

Authorities say thousands have died in recent years attempting the Atlantic crossing from Africa, mainly toward Spain's Canary Islands.

Between January and August, 21,721 people arrived in Spain by sea, including 4,722 on the mainland, according to interior ministry data.

Pro-Palestinian protest forces Spain's Vuelta cycling tournament to be shortened

The 11th stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race was shortened on Wednesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated at the finish line, organisers said.

"Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to take the time at 3 kilometres before the line," the organisers of the Vuelta, cycling's third most-important Grand Tour, said.

Demonstrators holding Palestinian flags appeared to be attempting to push barriers into the road to disrupt the event at the finish line.

This year's Vuelta has been targeted on a daily basis by protesters, who have focused their attention on the Israel-Premier Tech team.

Italian rider Simone Petilli fell as a result of the incident.

"I understand that the situation is not good, but yesterday I fell because of a demonstration on the road," Petilli wrote on social media.

"Please, we are just cyclists doing our job, and if this continues, our safety is no longer guaranteed. We feel in danger. We just want to race!"

Climate change made heat behind deadly Spain fires 40 times more likely

Human-caused climate change made the hot, dry and windy conditions that fuelled deadly wildfires in Spain and Portugal last month 40 times more likely, researchers said Thursday.

The Iberian Peninsula saw unusually high temperatures throughout August, with thermometers topping 40C in many areas.

The persistent heat fanned wildfires -- mainly in northern Portugal and western and northwestern Spain -- that killed four people in each country, forced the evacuation of thousands, and ravaged vast areas of land.

In Spain, more than 380,000 hectares have burned this year -- a record annual total and nearly five times the annual average, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

Climate change, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, made the fire-prone weather about 40 times more likely and 30 percent more intense, European researchers said in a report published by World Weather Attribution.

"Without human-caused warming, similarly severe fire weather conditions would have been expected less than once every 500 years, rather than once every 15 years as they are today," said Theo Keeping, a researcher at Imperial College London.

These hot periods rapidly dry vegetation and can trigger intense blazes that "can generate their own wind, leading to longer flame lengths, explosive outbreaks and the ignition of dozens of fires nearby from flying embers", he added.

Spain endured a 16-day heatwave in August that was "the most intense on record", with average temperatures 4.6C above previous events, according to national weather agency AEMET.

More than 1,100 deaths in Spain have been linked to the August heatwave, according to an estimate released by the Carlos III Health Institute.

Two Spaniards among injured in deadly Lisbon derailment

A famed Lisbon funicular derailed Wednesday and smashed into a building, killing at least 15 and injuring 18 in one of the Portuguese capital's most popular tourist spots.

Two Spaniards were among the injured, Spanish press is reporting.

"A tragedy that our city has never seen," Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said of the accident involving the yellow Gloria funicular, one of the capital's best-known symbols.

All of the victims have been recovered from the wreckage, said Tiago Augusto, an official with the Inem emergency services, adding that they included foreigners.

"Dismayed by the terrible accident on the Glória funicular in Lisbon," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X.

"Our sympathy and solidarity go out to the families of the victims and to the Portuguese people at this difficult time. And we wish a speedy recovery to those injured".