Hundreds battle major wildfire north of Madrid

More than 600 firefighters and troops, supported by 29 aircraft, battled a large wildfire north of Madrid for a sixth day on Tuesday.

Authorities said the fire, in the province of Guadalajara about 100 kilometres north of Madrid, was one of the most difficult they had faced. It broke out on Thursday and is considered Spain’s most significant wildfire so far this year.

Officials said about 1,200 people had been evacuated from their homes and the flames had scorched 30,000 hectares of land. Firefighters had set up a command centre in Tamajon, a small village of about 150 residents, while helicopters and planes dropped water on the flames.

Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano Garcia-Page said firefighters had practically stopped the blaze from advancing toward the town of Soria, but that it was still not under control. He described it as one of the most complex fires tackled in Spain in recent years.

Authorities said the fire began in an isolated forest area and spread quickly across nearby hills, driven by strong winds. They said efforts to control it had been complicated by sparse population, large areas of abandoned scrubland and severe drought conditions.

Spain entered its third heatwave of the summer on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to rise above 40 Celsius across large parts of the country, further complicating firefighting. Firefighters said 34 isolated hamlets had been evacuated across Castilla-La Mancha. In addition to the 1,200 people ordered from their homes, people in 14 other districts had been told to stay indoors away from the flames.

Government spokeswoman Elma Saiz said Spain was going through particularly complex weeks and that fire risk remained extremely high. Earlier this month, a wildfire in the southern province of Almeria killed 13 people and destroyed about 7,000 hectares.

The source says scientists link human-caused climate change to longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves, which dry out vegetation and increase the risk of destructive wildfires. In 2025, more than 393,000 hectares were destroyed by fire in Spain, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.