Spain wildfires: 12,000 hectares burn north of Madrid, hundreds evacuated as second fire rages near Zaragoza
A wildfire in Guadalajara has consumed over 12,000 hectares since Thursday, forcing several hundred evacuations, while a separate blaze near Zaragoza has burned nearly 16,000 hectares.
Fire north of Madrid
A wildfire that started on Thursday in the Guadalajara region, about 100 kilometres north of Madrid, has burned more than 12,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of several hundred people, local authorities said on Sunday. The fire is raging through the Sierra Norte natural park, a forested and mountainous area that is home to threatened species of eagles, wolves and butterflies. No casualties have been reported so far, but the situation remains challenging.
Difficult.
Around 350 firefighters and soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) are deployed, supported by 25 aircraft, the control post told the press. The fire is the latest in a series of blazes that have hit Spain this month.
Zaragoza blaze
A second wildfire, which started on Wednesday near Zaragoza in the northeast, has burned nearly 16,000 hectares, according to the latest assessment provided on Saturday evening by Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, the security official in the Aragon regional government. That fire is also not yet under control.
Far from stabilized.
No victims have been reported from the Zaragoza fire either. The simultaneous outbreaks are stretching firefighting resources across the country.
Andalusia's deadly fire
Spain is still reeling from one of the deadliest wildfires in its recent history. On July 9, a forest fire in Andalusia, in the south, killed 13 people and destroyed 7,000 hectares. That tragedy underscored the human cost of increasingly extreme fire seasons.
- Andalusia (July 9)
- 7000 hectares
- Zaragoza (July 15)
- 16000 hectares
- Guadalajara (July 16)
- 12000 hectares
Climate and fire season
Spain is on the front line of climate change, experiencing longer and more frequent heatwaves with temperatures well above 40°C, which create conditions favourable to devastating fires. In 2025, 393,000 hectares burned across the country, the worst figure in recent history, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). So far in 2026, nearly 82,000 hectares have already been reduced to ashes.
One third of the total area burned in Europe last year was in Spain.
- Andalusia wildfire starts, later killing 13 people and burning 7,000 hectares.
- Zaragoza wildfire starts, eventually burning nearly 16,000 hectares.
- Guadalajara wildfire starts north of Madrid.
- Authorities report over 12,000 hectares burned in Guadalajara, hundreds evacuated.
The current fires add to a growing tally that is once again testing Spain's emergency response and raising questions about long-term forest management and climate adaptation.
