Spain has downgraded the Toledo wildfire emergency from Level 3 to Level 2 after Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska signed the order ending the national civil protection alert, allowing Castilla-La Mancha to resume control of extinction operations. Castilla-La Mancha President Emiliano García-Page said the province had been safeguarded with minimal damage.
Authorities authorized residents of nine Toledo municipalities to return on July 27, with evacuation orders later lifted in La Iglesuela del Tiétar, Sartajada, and Almorox urbanizations. In Madrid and Ávila, some 29,000 displaced residents across 15 municipalities were cleared to go home. Most road restrictions have been removed, though several routes remain closed.
A new heat wave is forecast to begin July 29, as Environment Minister Sara Aagesen reported that more than 170,000 hectares have burned across Spain, including 55,000 hectares in the Ávila blaze alone, following last week's mass evacuations.