The fire, which according to initial findings was probably caused by agricultural work, is now estimated to have destroyed around 32,000 hectares.Image: keystone
July 23, 2026, 01:18July 23, 2026, 01:18
In Spain, the devastating forest fire in the province of Guadalajara has now destroyed around 32,000 hectares of land, according to authorities, making it one of the largest fires in the country’s recent history.
During a visit to the fire area, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for a “state pact against the climate emergency”. At the same time, the emergency services expressed their optimism that they would be able to bring the fire northeast of Madrid under control in the coming days.
Sánchez and the president of the affected region of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, spoke to the emergency managers about the development of the fire. García-Page then told journalists that there was reason for “cautious optimism”. The success of the extinguishing work gave hope that the fire situation could soon be stabilized. However, the stronger winds announced for Thursday could worsen the situation again.
Fires around 70 kilometers around Madrid
Because of the improved situation, residents of five previously evacuated towns were allowed to return to their homes on Wednesday. In addition, the authorities did not rule out the return of residents from the town of La Mierla, where the fire originated, around 70 kilometers northeast of Madrid, during the day. In total, 34 towns in the Sierra Norte have been evacuated and around 1,200 people have been brought to safety since the outbreak last Thursday.
Forest fires were also raging in the southwest of Madrid. Because of the fire, the communities of Encinar del Alberche, Ribera del Alberche and Rincón del Alberche were evacuated and the community of Villa del Prado was placed under curfew, the Spanish rescue service announced in the evening on the online service X. According to the Spanish Guardia Civil, several traffic axes were closed. Authorities urged residents to “exercise extreme caution when driving as visibility is severely limited by the smoke.” Civil defense also called on residents with respiratory illnesses to close their windows at night to reduce exposure.
Second largest forest fire since 1968
The fire, which according to initial findings was probably caused by agricultural work, has now become the second largest forest fire in the country since the central government began records in 1968, with an estimated 32,000 hectares destroyed – an area equivalent to around 45,000 football fields. Only the Larouco fire in 2025 was even larger, with almost 38,000 hectares destroyed in the regions of Galicia and Castile and León in the northwest of the country.
In Guadalajara, around 600 emergency services, including those from the fire department, civil defense and the military emergency relief unit UME, continued to try to bring the fire under control. According to official information, they were supported by almost 30 firefighting planes and helicopters.
Financial help
Sánchez said in Guadalajara that the scientific findings leave no doubt that climate change is costing human lives, among other things. Combating the climate crisis must therefore go beyond party-political disputes. He also promised the affected communities further government support and financial aid for the reconstruction of the destroyed areas.
The exceptionally severe forest fire season continues to concern Spain. According to data from the European earth observation program Copernicus, around 123,000 hectares have already burned across the country since the beginning of the year – almost three times as much as in the same period last year. (sda/apa/dpa/afp)