Spain Wildfires

A wildfire that broke out Wednesday afternoon in Almorox, near Toledo, triggered the evacuation of several residential areas in central Spain, including the El Encinar del Alberche, Ribera del Alberche and Rincón del Alberche neighborhoods. The Community of Madrid activated Level 2 of its forest fire emergency plan, ordering the confinement of the municipality of Villa del Prado and closing the N-403 and M-507 highways to traffic.

Emergency services dispatched two ES-Alert mobile warnings to residents in the affected zones. Firefighting crews from Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha, including aerial units, were deployed alongside Spain's Military Emergencies Unit, which was mobilized to assist with containment efforts.

Dozens of ground and aerial resources from regional fire brigades and forestry agents converged on the area as flames advanced toward populated zones.

A rapidly spreading wildfire that ignited in a field in Pontevès on Tuesday has charred roughly 1,700 hectares in the Var region, coming after multiple blazes hit southern France amid the country’s third heatwave of the year.

Between 300 and 400 residents were evacuated around the villages of Cotignac, Montfort-sur-Argens and Correns as flames advanced within hours. Nearly 1,000 firefighters were deployed to the ground, supported by eight Canadair water-bombers, four helicopters and two Dash aircraft. More than 2,300 homes lost electricity.

Four firefighters and two Pontevès residents suffered smoke inhalation, and a fire truck was damaged during operations, though all injuries were reported as minor.

Spain's third heatwave of the year began on Tuesday, with temperatures expected to reach 45°C across the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula and red alerts issued in parts of Andalusia after earlier blazes devastated the countryside.

The Guadalajara wildfire, previously reported at 12,000 hectares, has now scorched more than 26,000 hectares, becoming the largest on record in Castilla-La Mancha, forcing the evacuation of 25 municipalities and displacing over 1,000 residents. All 17 natural parks in the Valencian Community have been temporarily closed due to extreme heat. Nationwide, more than 100,000 hectares have burned in Spain since January, double the area destroyed in the same period last year, according to European satellite data. Less than two weeks ago, 13 people died in a wildfire in Almería province, the country's deadliest in decades.

In neighbouring France, 27 departments remain on maximum fire alert with 40,000 hectares burned this season.

A fast-moving wildfire near Brieva in the province of Segovia has forced the evacuation of eight villages and burned an estimated 3,000 hectares since breaking out on Monday afternoon, driven by strong winds and parched terrain.

Authorities raised the fire's threat level and ordered residents of Tenzuela, Losana de Pirón, Carrascal de la Cuesta, La Cuesta, Aldeasaz, Berrocal, Caballar and Santo Domingo de Pirón to leave. Evacuees were relocated to Torreiglesias, Sotosalbos and Turégano as the ES-Alert system issued warnings to area residents. Nearly 40 firefighting units, including three bulldozers, remained deployed against flames that late Monday were reported advancing toward Turégano.

Three provincial roads — SG-P-2222, SG-V-2362 and SG-V-2366 — were closed, and the Regional Government of Castile and León convened an integrated emergency operations centre in Segovia.