Spain requests EU assistance to combat forest fires in Madrid

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

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

The Madrid regional government announced that the three fires affecting the region remain out of control, and firefighting teams had not managed to fully contain them by Friday morning, despite progress made in recent hours.

It added that more than 270 firefighters and military emergency personnel continued working to contain the blazes, which have forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people in the capital area. Weather conditions, particularly strong winds, are expected to make firefighting efforts more difficult throughout the day.

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 exceeded the capacity of regional authorities, prompting them to ask the central government to coordinate the response and deploy additional resources.