The wildfire near La Vall d'Uixó in Castellón has scorched approximately 10,000 hectares after burning for a fifth day, prompting the lifting of a lockdown in La Vall d'Uixó and allowing thousands of residents to return home after forced evacuations scattered them across 18 municipalities.
More than 400 personnel, reinforced by crews from Catalonia, Aragón and Murcia, are battling the blaze with 34 aircraft and overnight drone surveillance by the Generalitat and the military UME. Thermal inversions and lingering smoke have repeatedly grounded fleets in the mornings, while firefighters race to contain the western front toward the Sierra de Espadán, where dense forest fuels fears of re-ignition. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the forward command post as authorities brace for a new heatwave expected to push temperatures above 41C across Spain.
Across the country, blazes have closed 29 roads, including a record fire in Ávila that has consumed more than 50,000 hectares, though conditions there and near Madrid have begun to ease, allowing some evacuees to return.