A devastating and rapidly spreading forest fire about 100 kilometers northeast of the Spanish capital Madrid remains out of control, burning more than 13,000 hectares of forest and pasture. The fire, which broke out on Thursday in the province of Guadalajara, entered the protected natural park “Sierra Norte“, threatening the habitats of rare and endangered species such as eagles, wolves and butterflies.
According to official information from the Spanish state television RTVE (rtve.es), the flames have spread another 14 kilometers during the past night alone. The situation is complicated by the extreme behavior of the fire, driven by strong southerly and southwesterly winds with a front speed of over 60 meters per minute.
The regional environment minister, Mercedes Gomez, confirmed that nearly 800 residents from 20 different municipalities in the area have been evacuated as a precautionary measure. Currently, active operations on the ground involve over 500 firefighters and emergency services personnel, supported by specialized modules of the Spanish Military Emergency Service (UME). 25 firefighting aircraft and helicopters have been mobilized to assist ground teams, which carry out constant water spraying.
According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS – effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu), since the beginning of 2026, forest fires in Spain have already burned over 80,000 hectares of land. This figure is almost double the number of fires in the same period last year. The main factors behind the severe crisis are the prolonged drought, extremely low humidity and another heat wave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
In the neighboring region of Aragon, another large-scale fire near the town of Ores (Zaragoza province), which destroyed nearly 14,400 hectares, is now partially contained, according to regional authorities. Local services in Madrid were also able to quickly contain a smaller fire in the municipality of Losoyuela, where the Civil Guard has already arrested a 52-year-old man on suspicion of arson.
The Reuters news agency (reuters.com) and the European news portal Euronews (euronews.com) remind us that the country is still recovering from the deadliest fire disaster in its recent history, recorded earlier this month in the southern province of Almeria (Andalusia), where the fire claimed the lives of 13 people.