Several explosions at a battery factory northeast of Madrid caused a toxic cloud to form, local authorities reported, quoted by DPA and BTA.
Around 60,000 residents of the towns of Azuqueca de Henares, Cabanillas del Campo and Aloevera received a warning on their mobile phones not to leave their homes, to close windows and doors and to turn off their air conditioning.
Regional authorities in the Castilla-La Mancha region in central Spain said the alert was issued due to a fire at a battery recycling plant in Azuqueca de Henares, about 50 km from Madrid.
According to Spanish television, the plant recycles lithium batteries.
Video footage shared on social media shows a dark cloud of smoke rising from a plant in an industrial area in Azuqueca de Henares.
According to initial reports, there were no casualties in the plant or the surrounding area. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
In May, there were two incidents in Spain that resulted in the formation of a toxic cloud in the air. The first was on May 14 near Seville in a fire at a chemical warehouse, and the second near Barcelona as a result of a fire at a chemical plant, recall Agence France-Presse and Associated Press.
Then again, tens of thousands of people were urged not to leave their homes because of the threat.