Sánchez urges Feijóo to join climate pact as wildfires scorch 170,000 hectares, accuses right of denialism

Wildfire crisis

Spain is enduring its worst wildfire season in recent memory, with more than 170,000 hectares already burned in 2026. That figure is six times the area scorched by the same date last year, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned that August and September still lie ahead. The fires have forced the evacuation or confinement of tens of thousands of people across multiple regions, including Madrid, Ávila, Toledo and Castellón. Sánchez has visited several affected zones in recent days, among them Los Gallardos in Almería, La Mierla in Guadalajara, Cenicientos in Madrid, Navaluenga in Ávila, La Vall d'Uixó in Castellón and Navalcarnero in Madrid.

“What more has to happen for everyone to get behind a great national agreement on the climate emergency?”

Call for a state pact

During his traditional end-of-political-year press conference on 28 July, Sánchez renewed his push for a "pacto de Estado frente a la emergencia climática," a state-level climate pact first presented in September 2025 in Ponferrada and later expanded with contributions from 1,300 experts. He described the agreement as "an imperative, not an option, an obligation for everyone." The prime minister insisted that unity must extend beyond firefighting to prevention and reconstruction, arguing that the climate emergency is worsening year after year.

“Denialism is the worst fuel in the face of the climate emergency.”

Political deadlock

The opposition Partido Popular, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has rejected the broad climate pact and instead proposed an agreement focused solely on forest fires. Sánchez dismissed that counter-offer, saying that unity already exists in firefighting operations and that a narrower pact would ignore the root causes. He accused the PP and its coalition partner Vox in several regional governments of cutting prevention policies and spreading disinformation about the Montes law. Despite his call for dialogue, Sánchez confirmed he does not plan to telephone Feijóo to negotiate, though he said the door remains open if the opposition leader wishes to join.

“Denying the alarms of science does not prepare us; it makes us much more vulnerable and our population much more insecure.”

Aid and next steps

The Council of Ministers approved a declaration of zones severely affected by the fires and greenlit new assistance for individuals, workers and businesses. Among the measures is an extraordinary benefit for employees whose activity has been temporarily suspended because of evacuations, access restrictions or fire damage. Sánchez said he is willing to convene a Conference of Presidents with regional leaders to discuss the climate emergency, but expressed caution given what he called a lack of clear will from PP-Vox governments to fight climate change. The next general election must be held by July 2027, though Sánchez has left open the possibility of advancing the vote to the first quarter of that year.