Forest fires surrounding Madrid "out of control"; Spain requests EU assistance to combat them

Spanish state television reported that Spain has asked the European Union to activate the European Civil Protection Mechanism to assist in combating wildfires ravaging the Madrid region.

It added that the Madrid regional government requested Brussels on Friday to provide at least four firefighting aircraft, as efforts continue to contain three wildfires in the capital region and more than 11 others in various parts of the country, coinciding with the third heatwave of the summer.

Madrid regional governor Francisco Martín told journalists that “two fires, one in San Martín and the other in Vía del Prado, are on the verge of merging into a single fire advancing toward Navas del Rey,” warning that the flames had become “out of control.” He noted that additional villages in the region had been evacuated.

The Madrid regional government announced that more than 270 firefighters and military emergency personnel continued working to contain the blazes, which had forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people in the capital region. Weather conditions, particularly strong winds, were expected to further complicate firefighting efforts.

The Spanish government had declared a national emergency in Madrid and the neighboring province of Ávila in the Castile and León region, after the wildfires overwhelmed the capacities of regional authorities, which requested that the central government take charge of coordinating the response and deploying additional resources.