Spain activates 1,100 climate refuges and €10M aid package as fires burn over 170,000 hectares

Spain’s government has launched a state-backed network of climate refuges, a 10-million-euro subsidy programme for more shelters, and a new scientific panel, as emergency crews battle wildfires that have already burned over 170,000 hectares this year.

A network of 1,100 cool spaces

The Red de Refugios Climáticos now lists 1,100 sites across the country, 180 of them managed directly by the General State Administration. Among them are the headquarters of the Ministry for Ecological Transition itself, AEMET offices in Valencia, Málaga and Zaragoza, plus public libraries, civic centres, parks and schools. From 15 May to 30 September every year, these spaces will offer air-conditioned or naturally cool areas that are signposted and freely accessible. An interactive map went live on Monday so that anyone can find the nearest refuge. Vice President Sara Aagesen also released a guide with technical standards for any administration, company or organisation that wants to open a new shelter and join the network.

Where the money goes

Sánchez detailed a 10-million-euro grant programme divided into three lines: €2 million for individual refuges, €3 million for local networks and €5 million to adapt schools into climate shelters. He stressed that age, income and the absence of green zones should not become barriers to protection. In parallel, another €9 million will fund green urban infrastructure and renaturalisation, aiming to lower street-level temperatures and make cities more resilient.

A scientific panel and a disaster decree

The Council of Ministers on Tuesday 28 July will formally create a Scientific Action Panel on the Climate Emergency. Made up of some of the country’s leading researchers, its mandate is to anticipate risks, evaluate policies and guide government decisions with rigorous, independent advice. The same cabinet session will declare the areas devastated by this summer’s wildfires as zones severely affected by civil protection emergencies, unlocking extra recovery resources.

Sánchez ratchets up the political pressure

Throughout the event the prime minister repeated his call for a State Pact on the climate emergency and singled out the conservative regional government of Madrid for playing down complaints about sweltering classrooms. He said a 30-degree classroom makes it impossible to study or learn normally, arguing that public bodies must adapt schools rather than deny the evidence. Sánchez delivered a rhetorical triplet that has become his signature refrain.

In the face of extreme events, State pact. In the face of inequalities, State pact. And in the face of denialism and inaction, State pact.

He also struck a note of solidarity with evacuees and firefighters, insisting that “all the force of the State” was standing with them.

Let them have no doubt: all the force of the State, all the force of the State, led also by the General State Administration, is with them and with them.

The toll so far in 2026

Aagesen told reporters that Spanish wildfires had consumed 172,396 hectares by the latest count. Sánchez cited about 150,000 hectares and said 13 people had lost their lives in the fires, while more than 3,800 people had died from heat-related causes across the country. The network is one piece of the State Pact proposal the government unveiled in September 2025 and that Sánchez has been urging other parties, especially the PP, to sign since the severe fires of this summer. So far the PP has not commented on the call. The president later travelled to the command post in Vall d’Uixó, Castellón, to meet emergency coordinators tackling one of the blazes still active.