Spain declares national emergency as wildfires force mass evacuations

Spain has declared a historic national emergency as out-of-control wildfires force over 11,500 evacuations near Madrid and in Ávila. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has assumed direct control of the response, deploying military units. Meanwhile, southwestern France has evacuated over 60,000 people, and Sicily battles severe blazes. Both Spain and France have requested urgent European Union aerial reinforcements to combat the fires, which scientists link to climate change.

Spain national emergency declaration

• ▪The national emergency declaration places firefighting and civil protection operations under the direct authority of Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
• ▪Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska declared a national emergency on July 23, 2026, in the Community of Madrid and Ávila province due to severe forest fires.
• ▪The national emergency declaration is the first in Spain's history to be linked directly to a wildfire.
• ▪The Spanish government assigned the operational management of the emergency to the head of the Military Emergencies Unit.

Mass evacuations near Madrid

• ▪A wildfire in Burgohondo, Ávila, forced the evacuation of 1,500 people from a rural tourism complex and a housing development in El Tiemblo.
• ▪The Madrid Health Service placed at least 600 hospital beds on standby to assist individuals affected by the wildfires.
• ▪The wildfire in Burgohondo, Ávila, advanced at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour on July 23, 2026, and entered the Valle de Iruelas Natural Reserve.
• ▪More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from the Madrid regional municipalities of Villa del Prado, San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Pelayos de la Presa, and Aldea del Fresno.

French Atlantic coast fires

• ▪Authorities in southwestern France ordered the evacuation of approximately 40,000 people in the Gironde department and 23,000 in the Landes department due to large wildfires.
• ▪A wildfire near the Cap Ferret peninsula in France burned approximately 100 square kilometers of land since July 22, 2026.

European firefighting cooperation

• ▪Spain activated the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism, requesting at least four aerial firefighting resources to combat the blazes.
• ▪France requested European Union reinforcements, securing two Croatian Canadair aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
• ▪Greece offered two aircraft to assist Spain, while Italy and Greece each sent two Canadair water-dumping airplanes.

Climate change wildfire link

• ▪Spain has seen over 100,000 hectares burned in 2026, with 13 fatalities making it one of the country's deadliest wildfire seasons in decades.
• ▪According to Spain's Minister for the Ecological Transition Sara Aagesen, the 1,140 square kilometers burned in Spain in 2026 is more than five times the terrain burned during the first half of 2025.
• ▪Scientists state that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making southern Europe more vulnerable to severe wildfires.

Sicily fire operations

• ▪Italy's national fire department conducted over 1,400 operations since July 18, 2026, to combat wildfires ravaging parts of Sicily.
• ▪Wildfires in Sicily forced scattered evacuations and resulted in the death of a firefighter responding to a blaze in Caltanissetta.