Wildfires in Spain

A fire in the hilly terrain of Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, burning 50,000 hectares (123,000 acres). Authorities are battling two separate fires north-west of Madrid, taking the total area of scorched land near the capital to 70,000 hectares.

Spain’s government said the 172,000 hectares of forested land burned this year was six times greater than the equivalent figure for 2025.

Officials stressed the unprecedented nature of recent fires, which have spread rapidly over large areas. A commission official said that a recent fire in southern Spain that killed 13 people had reached speeds of 6km/h (more than 3mph), while firefighters can react only to fires moving 300 metres an hour or less.

A series of heatwaves, including record-breaking temperatures in June, that scientists say would have been impossible without the climate crisis, has left parched soils and tinder-dry vegetation that have fuelled this summer’s fires.

Spain is facing yet another raging wildfire as local authorities said that a blaze north of Madrid had burned more than 13,000 hectares in central Spain's Guadalajara province and forced 700 residents to evacuate, authorities said. 

The fire that started in Guadalajara province, which includes the Sierra Norte Natural Park.
It broke out in a forest-covered, mountainous region that is home to endangered species, including eagles, wolves and butterflies.

Spain is on the front line of climate change and has experienced increasingly long and frequent heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures well above 40 C, creating conditions conducive to devastating fires.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the length, intensity and frequency of heatwaves, which dry out vegetation and contribute to the likelihood of wildfires.

This month, one of Spain's deadliest ever wildfires broke out in the south, and firefighters are yet to contain another blaze that started in the northeast on July 15.

The fire started near Zaragoza, in the northeast, has burned nearly 16,000 hectares and is "far from under control", according to the regional government of Aragon.

A devastating wildfire in Spain's Almería province scorched roughly 7,000 hectares. Igniting near Los Gallardos on July 9, 2026, it became one of Andalusia's deadliest fires, tragically claiming 13 lives—including several foreign nationals—and leading to the brief evacuation of over 1,600 residents.

The fast-moving inferno was exacerbated by severe heatwaves and winds exceeding 50 km/h (31 mph), spreading through Bédar, Antas, and Lubrín. Hundreds of firefighters and Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME) were deployed to combat the blaze.

In Spain, a fire near the northeastern Costa Brava coast burned more than 2,200 hectares in two days, and firefighters said their efforts would be "complicated" by rising temperatures and the many "smoking hotspots" within the fire's perimeter.

97% of which has been in the protected natural area of Les Gavarres. The head of operations of the Catalan fire service, Eduard Martinez, said the blaze had a perimeter of 40km (25 miles).

South ​of Catalonia, in ​Spain’s eastern Castellón province, more than 500 people were evacuated after a wildfire spread into the Sierra de Espadán national park.

Spain and Portugal have been hit especially hard, with roughly 1% of the entire Iberian Peninsula scorched, according to EU scientists.

The worsening fire season in the Mediterranean has been linked directly to climate change in a separate study by the World Weather Attribution group at Imperial College London.

Experts warn that more frequent and severe fires across Europe are likely to continue in the future.

More than two-thirds of the area burned in the EU is in Spain and Portugal alone.

In Spain, more than 400,000 hectares have burned since the beginning of this year up until 26 August, according to the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

This record is more than six times the Spanish average for this time period between 2006 and 2024.

Fires have been concentrated in Spain's north-western regions of Galicia, Asturias and Castile and León.

Protected areas like Picos de Europa National Park have been impacted, as well as major routes on the Camino de Santiago.

Smoke from fires has dramatically decreased air quality in the area, with southerly winds sending smoke as far as France and the UK.

Climate change makes the conditions leading to wildfires more likely, but in a vicious cycle, the fires also release more planet-warming carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into our atmosphere.

CO2 released by fires in Spain this year has reached a record 17.68 million tonnes, according to the EU. This is more than the total annual CO2 emissions since 2003 from wildfires in that country, when data was first recorded by satellites.

For comparison, it is more than the total annual CO2 emitted by all of Croatia in 2023.

Around 400,000 ha (990,000 acres) of land had been burned by 19 August, making 2025 Spain's worst wildfire season in more than 30 years. 

The most affected provinces currently are Ourense, León and Zamora, accounting for almost half of all the burnt surface. With 150,000 ha burned, Orense saw 1/7 of its total surface affected by the fires. The deficiency of fire prevention measures is being investigated by Spain's environmental prosecutor.

Extreme heat and strong winds caused "fire whirls" as a blaze burned several houses and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from near a UNESCO-listed national park in northern Spain.

About 800 people were told to abandon their homes in half a dozen villages in the north of the Castile and Leon region, where several wildfires were raging.

High temperatures had caused the so-called fire whirls near Las Medulas park, forcing firemen to retreat, said Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones, chief of environment for the regional government.

This occurs when temperatures reach around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in a very confined valley, and then suddenly the fire enters a more open and oxygenated area. This produces a fireball, a fire whirl.

Two or three fires may have been started by lightning strikes, Suarez-Quinones said, but there were indications that the majority were the result of arson, which he described as "environmental terrorism".

Spain is on course for its hottest June on record, the national meteorological service AEMET said.

"Over the next few days, at least until Thursday, the intense heat will continue in much of Spain," said Ruben del Campo, a spokesperson for the weather agency.
In Seville, southern Spain, where global leaders gathered for a United Nations conference, temperatures hit 42 C.

The top temperature in the country was registered at 43.7 C in El Granado.

Hitting a record of as much as 30C (86F) in Spain’s Balearic Sea as a heat dome trapped hot air above Europe, the country’s weather forecaster Aemet said.

A wildfire in Spain's northern Catalonia region forced emergency services to order the closure of the main AP-7 motorway and a high-speed rail link, emergency services said.

A forest fire in Agullana, near Girona, forced the closure of the AP-7 motorway and the high-speed rail from Figueres to the border with France, firefighters said.
The Catalan fire service later said it had brought the blaze under control.

Emergency crews are working to contain a wildfire in Tarbena Municipality, Valencian Community. The fire broke out in the Serra Ferrer between Tarbena and Xalo around 12:20 on April 14 and has spread to an estimated 600 hectares (1,483 acres). The fire is uncontrolled, and nearly 226 personnel are on site tackling the blaze. Hot, dry, and windy conditions combined with inaccessible terrain are hampering firefighting efforts. Further wildfire growth is likely over the coming hours and days.

Authorities have issued evacuation orders for around 180 residents in Tarbena and Parcent; a temporary shelter for evacuated residents has been established at the Tarbena House of Culture. Several roads in the area have been closed by authorities, including the CV-715 and CV-752. At least three firefighters have suffered minor injuries during firefighting operations. Authorities could implement new evacuation orders depending on evolving wildfire conditions.

Thousands of residents from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands have been evacuated as a wildfire authorities deemed “out of control” rages on for a fourth day.

The Canary Islands emergency services said more than 26,000 people had been evacuated by Saturday afternoon, according to provisional estimates, a sharp rise from 4,500 on Friday. Some 11 towns have now been affected.

Fierce flames lit up the night sky overnight and helicopters were seen dropping water on areas close to homes where smoke billowed into the air.

Some 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) have been burned so far with a perimeter of 50km (30 miles).

The fire was at a scale never been seen before in the Canary Islands, Tenerife Council President Rosa Davila told reporters. She said the priority was to “protect people’s lives”.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

Scientists have said climate change has led to more frequent and more powerful extreme weather events.

Fires rage in Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands.

The blaze broke out in a mountainous national park around the Mount Teide volcano – Spain’s highest peak – amid hot and dry weather.

The fire is located in a steep and craggy mountain area with pine trees, with several municipalities on its flanks. Access for firefighters is extremely difficult.

The fire on La Palma started in El Pinar de Puntagorda, a wooded area in the north of the island, necessitating the evacuation of people from the villages of Puntagorda and neighboring Tijarafe. The fire affected an area of about 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres), and officials warned residents that the situation could worsen because a heatwave has made the terrain tinder-dry.

The fire in the mountain range Sierra de la Culebra is considered one of the worst in the history of Spain, and it is definitely the worst in Castile and León. Its flames destroyed over 22000 hectares in an area considered a nature reserve.

The fire in Navalacruz was an accident caused by a broken-down car in the ditch of the N-502 road. The flames quickly spread through a hillside and destroyed 22000 hectares before dying.

2017 was a bitter year for Galicia, considering they had to see 47000 hectares burn in only one year. The fire spread at a rate of 6km/h. “These fires [which showed signs of intentionality in a 60 to 90% of the cases] went over dams, created secondary sources at a distance of up to two kilometres, and generated a fire storm”, according to the WWF organization

The last fire on this list occurred in 2012 in the municipality of Castrocontrigo. 11500 hectares were set on fire. In addition, this fire was an arson and had a huge economic impact on the municipality since wood and resin extraction was its main source of income. 

The Canary Islands faced two terrible fires in the summer when they suffered a major heatwave with temperatures of more than 40ºC. Tejeda in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Los Ralejos in Tenerife were two of the most affected municipalities. About 37000 hectares burnt down in total.

Riba de Saelices in Guadalajara still remembers with a bittersweet feeling the 2005 fire, which took away the lives of 11 people and calcined 12800 hectares. It all started as a barbecue and turned into one of Spain's worst fires.

A temperature of 43,8ºC and the burning of waste went incredibly wrong. Both elements combined to trigger the well-known fire of Minas de Riotinto, a catastrophe that resulted in two deceased and more than 30000 hectares being reduced to ashes. This disaster affected 13 municipalities in the area, and some villages like Berrocal still face the consequences of this tragic event since the fire decimated its population and damaged the cork production, Berrocal’s main source of income.

A total of 437635 hectares were burnt down in Spain in 1994, which renders it the second worst period regarding fires. The worst part went to Catalonia, where 76000 hectares were destroyed only in summer, between the 3rd and 18th of July. Besides, these fires provoked five casualties, more than 40 wounded, and destroyed 35 farmhouses.