Spain is tackling one of its worst wildfire seasons in decades, with 14 major fires burning across the country as of Friday, August 15, according to a report published by Reuters. Fuelled by a climate change-triggered, 12-days-long deadly heatwave and strong southerly winds, the blazes have reportedly killed at least seven people and scorched an area roughly the size of London.
‘Extremely Worrying’ Conditions in the West
According to the report, the fires have engulfed some parts of the western regions particularly hard. “In the western part of the country, the situation is extremely worrying,” director-general of emergency services Virginia Barcones told national broadcaster RTVE.
In Galicia, flames forced highway and railway closures after multiple fronts merged into a massive wildfire, Reuters reported, adding that the blaze spread into Zamora province, prompting mass evacuations.
“In the village, some people have tractors and they have made a firewall in a flat area with fewer hills,” a 52-year-old teacher from Villanueva de la Sierra told the news agency, adding that residents in the region are “waiting for the fire to come down to try and stop it, so it does not get to the houses in the village.”
Firefighters Stretched as Blazes Move Fast
Firefighters across southern Europe are battling similar conditions, with Spain’s national weather agency Aemet warning of extreme fire risk, especially in the north and west. Temperatures are expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius on the north coast.
“Today will be another very difficult day, with an extreme risk of new fires,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote in a post on X.
In Castile and Leon, a fire near Molezuelas de la Carballeda – being seen as one of the largest so far in the Spanish history — briefly slowed. “We will continue working to stabilise it,” Reuters quoted regional fire chief Angel Sanchez as saying.
At one point, that fire was spreading at a rate of 4,000 hectares per hour, national government representative Eduardo Diego told Europa Press.
Arrests and Destruction Mount
In the Extremadura region, a blaze near Badajoz burned 2,500 hectares in just a few hours. “It was very fast with enormous growth, but it has been possible to tackle it,” government’s regional representative Jose Luis Quintana said, per Reuters.
Meanwhile, three firefighters were seriously injured in Ourense, where a man was arrested for starting a fire using his tractor during a ban. Two others were arrested in Galicia for illegally burning copper cables, the report said.
Avincis, Europe’s largest emergency aerial services operator, reported a 50% increase in firefighting flight hours in Spain and Portugal this season. So far, wildfires have destroyed over 157,000 hectares, which is nearly double the annual average since 2006, according to the European bloc’s Forest Fire Information Service.
