Guardia Civil arrest tractor driver over alleged negligence as Spain’s wildfire crisis deepens

The Guardia Civil said the man allegedly triggered the fire by using agricultural machinery despite a ban on such activities during the current extreme fire risk.

Another person is also under investigation in connection with the same incident.

In a statement on X (see below), the Guardia Civil said: ‘The cause that started (the fire) was a seriously negligent act through the use of heavy machinery in the area, where it was totally prohibited.’

Authorities had banned the use of farm machinery and other activities capable of generating sparks because of tinderbox conditions created by prolonged drought and successive heatwaves.

The blaze linked to the investigation is one of several major fires burning around the Spanish capital. Two fires west of Madrid merged on Friday into a massive wildfire, while a third blaze in the neighbouring Ávila province (Castilla y León) has threatened to join them, prompting Spain to declare its first national wildfire emergency. ALSO READ: Spain declares first national wildfire emergency as blazes rage, while France battles mass evacuations.

The fires have forced the evacuation of around 60,000 people, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry, although officials had earlier estimated that as many as 70,000 residents had been displaced. Thousands more have been ordered to remain in their homes.

Another 30,000 people were evacuated from villages in the Madrid region and almost 30,000 from neighbouring Ávila province, while about 8,000 residents in Madrid and 20,000 in Ávila were instructed to shelter indoors. The Interior Ministry later announced further evacuations, including in the Toledo province (Castilla-La Mancha) southwest of the capital.

More than 2,000 evacuees have been accommodated in 14 emergency shelters, many housed in sports halls around Madrid. Many of those affected own second homes in the rural areas west of the capital where the largest fires are burning.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the fire zone near the village of Cenicientos on Saturday, saying firefighters’ overriding objective was to protect people.

‘Our priority, our thinking, our aim is for your lives, to save your lives and protect inhabited areas,’ Sánchez told reporters.

He warned that difficult conditions were likely to continue despite slightly cooler temperatures.

‘We are going to have some complex hours ahead because although the temperatures have gone down, we do not know exactly how the wind will develop, how strong it will be.’

He added that the overnight easing of the heat offered firefighters ‘a window of opportunity this weekend to fight … this very serious fire’.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska also cautioned that conditions remained highly dangerous.

‘The situation is complex,’ he said. ‘Today, we are somewhat more pessimistic than yesterday. Weather conditions – as you have seen throughout the day – have not helped at all. The night ahead does not look favourable; it will not be an easy one for us.’

Smoke from the fires reached central Madrid on Saturday morning, prompting health warnings over air quality.

Health Minister Mónica García urged residents to minimise outdoor activity.

‘Avoid physical activity and staying outdoors. If you go outdoors and there is smoke or ash, use a mask,’ she wrote on X.

The current wildfire emergency has now claimed its first fatality in Spain. An elderly man died in his car after a separate, much smaller brush fire broke out near the town of Manises, outside Valencia. The blaze was later brought under control, but several other people were treated for smoke inhalation. Local media also reported another fire elsewhere in the Valencia region, in the Castellón province.

Earlier this month, 13 people died in a wildfire in southern Spain, the country’s deadliest in recent memory. ALSO READ: Sánchez praises firefighters and calls for climate action as identification of Almeria wildfire victims begins.

Spain has requested additional European assistance as firefighters continue battling the blazes. Four more water-bombing aircraft were due to arrive from Italy and Greece under the European Union’s civil protection mechanism, joining aircraft already deployed from Portugal and the Netherlands.

So far this year, more than 168,000 hectares have burned across Spain, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Last year was Spain’s worst wildfire season in recent history, with more than 393,000 hectares destroyed.

The crisis extends beyond Spain. Across the border in southwestern France, wildfires have continued to spread inland towards Bordeaux, forcing thousands more people to evacuate suburbs of the city. Together, the fires in Spain and France have displaced hundreds of thousands of people in recent days in what scientists say is another example of increasingly destructive wildfire seasons driven by prolonged drought and repeated heatwaves linked to climate change.