24th July 2026

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Spain declares first national wildfire emergency as blazes rage, while France battles mass evacuations

by News Desk0181

Spain has declared a national emergency for the first time in response to wildfires after a series of rapidly spreading blazes around Madrid and th neighbouring province of Ávila (Castilla y León) forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people, with some estimates putting the total at close to 20,000 as the situation continued to evolve.

The unprecedented measure, announced by the Interior Ministry, places responsibility for coordinating the emergency response under Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and allows national authorities to rapidly mobilise additional resources, including Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME), to support regional firefighting operations.

The declaration came after the regional government of Madrid headed by Isabel Díaz Ayuso requested assistance, describing the situation as one of ‘extreme gravity’ as multiple fires threatened to overwhelm local firefighting capacity.

Authorities warned that three major fires burning in Villa del Prado, San Martín de Valdeiglesias and neighbouring Almorox, in the Castilla-La Mancha region, risked merging, while another fast-moving wildfire in Burgohondo, in Ávila province, threatened to spread into the Madrid region because of strong winds and extreme weather conditions.

More than 10,000 people have been evacuated across the Madrid region in recent days, including around 3,500 residents of Aldea del Fresno, approximately 60 kilometres west of the capital, who received emergency evacuation alerts early on Thursday. Elsewhere in Ávila province, residents of Burgohondo, El Tiemblo and Navaluenga were ordered to remain indoors as flames spread out of control.

Around 1,500 people were also evacuated from a rural tourism complex and nearby housing development in El Tiemblo as the fire advanced rapidly.

Although firefighters managed to slow the overnight advance of several blazes, authorities warned that worsening weather conditions were expected to make containment efforts significantly more difficult.

‘Meteorological conditions, fundamentally the wind, will complicate firefighting operations this Friday,’ the Madrid regional government said in a post on X.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government had committed every available resource to the emergency.

‘The government has deployed every available resource to stop the terrible fires currently affecting numerous areas: Ávila, León, Toledo, Madrid and other parts of Spain,’ he wrote on X, urging the public to exercise ‘great caution’ and follow official instructions.

Later, Sánchez added: ‘We are experiencing a dramatic situation, not just in several Spanish regions but also in neighboring countries. My solidarity with all the people who have been affected and been forced to leave their homes.’

The national emergency is the first ever declared in Spain specifically because of a wildfire. The previous time the same level of emergency was activated was during last year’s nationwide power blackout.

Interior Minister Grande-Marlaska said the densely populated area west of Madrid, where many residents own second homes, had influenced the decision to intervene nationally, alongside the unusually aggressive behaviour of the fires and persistent hot, windy conditions.

Spain has also requested assistance from the European Union, with Grande-Marlaska confirming that Italy and Greece are each sending two Canadair water-bombing aircraft to reinforce firefighting operations.

More than 270 emergency personnel, around 40 ground units and several contingents from the UME have been deployed across the affected regions, supported by helicopters, water-dumping aircraft, bulldozers and national firefighting brigades.

Beyond Madrid and Ávila, Grande-Marlaska said nine other serious wildfires are currently burning elsewhere in Spain.

The country’s largest blaze remains in Guadalajara province, about 100 kilometres north of Madrid, where a fire has already destroyed around 32,000 hectares since last week, making it Spain’s second-largest wildfire on record. ALSO READ (20 July): Spain’s largest wildfire of 2026 spreads beyond 26,000 hectares as new heatwave fuels fears.

Spain has endured an exceptionally severe fire season for the second consecutive year. More than 29 major wildfires have broken out so far in 2026, with Environment Minister Sara Aagesen saying the area burned is already more than five times greater than at the same stage in 2025.

According to Aagesen, around 1,140 square kilometres of land have already been destroyed this year. Figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) also show that almost 125,000 hectares have burned across Spain in 2026, compared with 393,000 hectares during the whole of last year. ALSO READ: Sánchez unveils Spain’s largest anti-wildfire operation after devastating 2025 fires.

Temperatures were forecast to exceed 39C across parts of Spain on Friday, reaching as high as 44C in Almería, with high winds and rugged terrain continuing to hamper firefighting operations.

Authorities have not yet identified the cause of the fires. Investigators say wildfires can be triggered by agricultural machinery, lightning, discarded cigarettes or deliberate arson. ALSO READ: More than 12,000 hectares destroyed as Aragón faces escalating wildfire crisis.

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.

Sánchez has also renewed calls for a cross-party political agreement to tackle climate change, arguing that Spain must adapt to increasingly frequent and destructive wildfire seasons. ALSO READ: Spain faces escalating wildfire crisis as Sánchez warns climate emergency cannot be ignored.

France requests EU assistance as Atlantic coast fires spread

France has also appealed for European Union assistance after two major wildfires forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 people from the country’s Atlantic coast.

The largest blaze, which began near Saumos north of the Cap Ferret peninsula, has burned around 10,000 hectares of land, destroyed approximately 80 homes — around 50 of them completely — and threatened to cut off the peninsula’s only access road.

Authorities ordered the complete evacuation of the popular summer holiday destination of Cap Ferret, with many of the estimated 63,000 evacuees transported to safety by boat as smoke and flames approached residential areas.

Further south, another major wildfire continued burning around Biscarrosse and Parentis-en-Born, forcing additional evacuations as firefighters struggled to contain the flames amid strong winds.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said around 40,000 people had been evacuated from Gironde and another 23,000 from neighbouring Landes.

President Emmanuel Macron confirmed France had requested additional European support.

‘We will soon be able to rely on reinforcements including two Croatian Canadair firefighting aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia,’ he said.

Hundreds of firefighters, backed by aircraft and additional ground crews, continue to battle the blazes.

Forecasts suggest only a brief respite before temperatures climb sharply again next week, raising concerns that continued heat could further fuel the fires.

The prolonged heatwave is also creating wider economic challenges. High river temperatures may force further reductions in electricity production at nuclear power stations used for cooling, with EDF’s Golfech 2 reactor already offline since 7 July because of heat-related restrictions.

Meanwhile, FranceAgriMer has warned that weeks of exceptionally hot weather are increasingly damaging France’s maize crop, adding to concerns over agricultural production in the EU’s largest grain-producing nation.

Across southern Europe, repeated heatwaves have fuelled multiple major wildfires this summer. Scientists say climate change is increasing both the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and drought, making the region increasingly vulnerable to large and fast-moving wildfires.

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