Disasters & Incidents
Spain wildfire near Portugal burns 11,000 hectares
A wildfire that started Wednesday near Fermoselle in western Spain has burned 11,000 hectares in 24 hours near the Portuguese border and forced 800 people to evacuate, officials said Thursday.
Fermoselle's mayor gave the burned-area figure and told AFP the village faced “hell” and a “tunnel of flame”. Emergency services for the Castilla y Leon region said 800 people were evacuated from the path of the blaze.
Emergency services said 11 areas were evacuated, residents of two others were ordered to shelter in place and several roads were closed.
Spain's Military Emergency Unit was deployed to the Level 2 fire, a classification that brings extra support from the central government. Raul de la Fuente, a senior fire official in the Castilla y Leon regional government, said the fire was burning through a ravine and threatening to reach another village, with strong winds forecast.
“We are focusing our efforts in stopping that from happening,” he told reporters.
Two other Level 2 fires, at Val de la Loba and San Cipriano del Condado, were active in Zamora province in the Castile and Leon region. The Fermoselle blaze follows days of larger wildfires west of Madrid, including a separate fire in the Avila area that has burned approximately 50,000 hectares.
Update
A senior Castilla y Leon fire official said the Fermoselle fire was burning through a ravine and threatening to reach another village.
Officials said strong winds were forecast and crews were focusing on stopping the fire from reaching that village.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 14:51:29 UTC.
Update
Emergency services said 800 people were evacuated from the path of the Fermoselle wildfire.
The mayor said the fire burned 11,000 hectares in 24 hours and described the village as facing "hell" and a "tunnel of flame".
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 13:35:00 UTC.
Update
The mayor said the wildfire near the Portuguese border had burned 11,000 hectares.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 13:19:15 UTC.
Update
Spain's Military Emergency Unit was deployed to the Level 2 fire.
Two other Level 2 fires were active in Zamora province, at Val de la Loba and San Cipriano del Condado.
A separate ongoing fire in the Avila area has burned about 50,000 hectares.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 08:20:34 UTC.
Update
The fire broke out Wednesday in Fermoselle in western Spain, a few kilometres from the Portuguese border.
Emergency services said 11 areas were evacuated.
Residents of two other areas were ordered to shelter in place.
Several roads were closed.
Authorities had not yet released the number of hectares burned.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 08:01:32 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The source did not state whether the threatened village had been reached by the fire.
Source
AFP news report published on .