Spain: National emergency declared in Madrid as wildfires spread

The Spanish government announced a national state of emergency in the Madrid region on Friday following the simultaneous outbreak of several wildfires, which have spread due to strong winds and high temperatures.

Spanish state television quoted the Spanish Ministry of Interior as saying that the emergency declaration in the capital region was prompted by two fires that broke out there, a third fire that spread from the province of Toledo in the Castile-La Mancha region, and fears that a fire in the province of Ávila, part of the Castile and León region, might also spread to the capital.

It added that the Madrid regional government requested the national state of emergency after being forced to evacuate more than 10,000 people from several towns and close several major roads in the southwestern part of the capital region.

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The fight against the Ávila fire has taken on special significance for the capital, as it is located to the west in an area connected to forests and mountain ranges extending southwestward. The same weather conditions, particularly strong winds and drought, have contributed to increasing the risk of its spread, prompting authorities to treat the fires as a single national crisis requiring centralized management.

Government data circulating in Spain indicates that wildfires have consumed more than 123,000 hectares since the beginning of this year, more than four times the area destroyed by fires during the same period in 2025.

Data from the European Union’s Copernicus program and the European Forest Fire Information System show that Spain has so far recorded the largest area of burned forest in Europe this year, in a season that began earlier and progressed at a faster-than-usual pace before the summer peak.