Spain battles record wildfires as new heatwave looms, 70,000 evacuated

Firefighting under extreme conditions

Firefighters in Spain have been battling a series of wildfires for the past week, with three blazes in the Madrid region becoming the country's largest on record. More than 70,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes as flames swept through villages and camping grounds. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the coming hours would be "absolutely decisive" to bring the fires under control.

It's a hell of a situation.

The fire in Ávila, west of Madrid, has alone burned 50,000 hectares, contributing to a total of 77,000 hectares destroyed across central Spain. France, also hit by wildfires, has seen 42,000 hectares burned in the Gironde region, prompting 220,000 evacuations. EU commissioner Hadja Lahbib warned that the bloc's aerial firefighting fleet is increasingly stretched, with extreme conditions looming for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Devastation on the ground

In Navaluenga, the Pantano del Burguillo campsite was reduced to ash on Friday. Owner Maria Angeles Canete and her husband fled by boat onto the reservoir as gas canisters exploded. "We have lost everything," Canete said. "We have nothing." Nearby, a dead deer lay with its hair burned off. In El Barraco, exhausted firefighters rested at a cafe. Evacuee Magaly Vargas sobbed at the spot where her caravan once stood.

The trees lit up with flames. Then something went bang and we heard the gas canisters exploding.

In Villamanta, over 200 people slept on makeshift bunks in a sports hall. Consuelo Lorza, 88, and her granddaughter shared a bunk while her daughter slept in a car. The family had been evacuated three times in as many days. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the shelter, offering comfort. "The queen told me she couldn't believe it. Evacuated three times," Lorza said.

Climate and the heatwave threat

A new heatwave is forecast to grip Spain from Wednesday, with temperatures set to reach 40°C. This threatens to further fuel the flames at the peak of the holiday season. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the fires as "the most painful manifestation of a climate emergency" and said light was beginning to appear "at the end of the tunnel". In France, officials described the Gironde fire as "extremely intense and unpredictable", generating its own winds and advancing toward Bordeaux.

Response and resources

Spain has deployed firefighting brigades across the region, with support from the EU's water-bombing planes. Grande-Marlaska stressed that Monday and Tuesday were "absolutely crucial days" before temperatures rise again. The EU said its fleet is stretched, with fears that fires may soon demand resources elsewhere on the continent. Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported that 43 homes have been destroyed and more than 300 severely damaged in Madrid alone, a number regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso said will "rise enormously".

Year of record fires

The Spanish government reported that 172,000 hectares of forested land have burned so far this year, six times the figure for the whole of 2025. France, too, has seen over 116,000 hectares burned since January, far exceeding its 2025 total. EU officials have warned that wildfires could continue burning until early November, in what threatens to be a record-breaking year across southern Europe.

Extreme conditions are looming for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, in addition to France, the Iberian Peninsula... where the situation is expected to worsen, including in Portugal starting today.