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Thousands evacuated, dense vegetation growth, heatwaves: Inside Madrid wildfires
Spain and France have been at the epicentre of Europe’s wildfire season, which started early this year and accelerated in recent weeks.
The Madrid wildfires have prompted Spain to declare a state of emergency and send the military to try to contain them near the national capital, while another blaze also affected neighbouring France.
The French authorities evacuated thousands of tourists threatened by a wildfire west of Bordeaux. In Spain, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated from areas as close as 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Madrid, with more than 270 firefighters trying to extinguish the blazes, news agency AFP reported.
In Ávila province, about 1,500 people have been evacuated. Several highways have been closed, including sections of the M507 and the M501.
Explaining the Madrid wildfires
Spain and France have been at the epicentre of Europe’s wildfire season, which started early this year and accelerated in recent weeks. Unusually high rainfall during the spring months in Spain led to rapid, abundant vegetation and undergrowth across the region. Then, successive heat waves in several European countries baked vegetation, making it easier for flames to spread rapidly.
Strong, unpredictable winds are rapidly fanning the flames and carrying embers ahead of the active fronts. This has caused separate fires to aggressively expand and threaten to merge. Along with it, bone-dry atmospheric conditions prevent the natural moisture in trees and brush from resisting ignition.
All these conditions have combined to help the wildfires in Spain spread.
Fires have burned more than 300,000 hectares across Spain and the rest of the continent, destroying crops and disrupting transport services.
Climate change is intensifying periods of extreme heat in Europe, the fastest-warming continent. Record-breaking heat and drought have fueled the worst start to the global wildfire season ever, with climate scientists warning that a developing El Niño could bring even harsher conditions later this summer.
Evacuations and a national emergency
French authorities ordered the evacuation of 40,000 residents and tourists after wildfires threatened to reach the Cap Ferret peninsula, a popular tourist area west of Bordeaux, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. The blazes have burned about 10,000 hectares and engulfed a number of houses.
By declaring a national emergency for Madrid and Avila, the Spanish government has taken control of the response, with the Interior Ministry coordinating efforts and the country’s military emergency unit managing field operations. Other wildfires are burning across the country.
“Very adverse meteorological conditions are expected for tomorrow,” Madrid region President Isabel Díaz Ayuso wrote in a post on X on Thursday evening.
“It is necessary to reinforce national and even international support to these fires,” Diaz added.
Temperatures in Andalucia were said to climb as high as 44 °C (111F) on Friday, with red and amber heat alerts throughout Spain’s central and eastern provinces, according to meteorological agency Aemet.
The European Union has sent two planes and two helicopters to Gironde, as well as another plane to Nîmes, to help fight the wildfires in France, a European Commission spokesperson said. Greece is sending two firefighting aircraft to assist Spain after Madrid requested activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Earlier this month, a deadly blaze in Spain killed 13 people and scorched about 70 square kilometres near Almería.
Last week was the worst for wildfires across Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. A total of 124,969 hectares have been burnt in the country so far in 2026, more than three times the average for the past two decades.
The fires around Madrid are among the country’s most critical, after one in Guadalajara that has burnt more than 32,000 hectares.
A cloud of smoke from the fires is seen crossing the Iberian Peninsula due to winds, according to a satellite image shared by Aemet on X.
