Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday that the country is facing a dramatic situation across several provinces because of wildfires that led authorities to declare a state of emergency in the regions of Madrid and Ávila.
Writing on social media platform X, Sánchez said Spain is experiencing a dramatic situation not only in various Spanish provinces but also in areas of neighboring countries. He said the fires are tearing through thousands of hectares and affecting numerous towns, urging residents to exercise extreme caution and follow guidance from authorities.
Spain’s Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, declared the national state of emergency in the provinces of Madrid and Ávila on Thursday evening in response to the escalating wildfires.
The decision followed the scale of the fires burning in the municipalities of Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias, in the Madrid region, and Burgohondo, in Ávila, compounded by particularly adverse weather conditions and the need to mobilize a significant volume of resources from different levels of government.
Read more about this topic: Spain declares a state of emergency in Madrid and Ávila as wildfires force 10,000 evacuations. Here’s what happens next (with video)
The regional government of Madrid said that as of 7:00 a.m. local time Friday, the three simultaneous fires affecting the region remained neither contained nor under control, though firefighting efforts overnight had produced good results. Regional authorities said in a statement that weather conditions, particularly wind, would complicate extinguishing efforts throughout the day.
According to the same source, roughly 10,000 people evacuated from their homes as a precaution across several municipalities on Thursday remain displaced.
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, Aemet, said the fire risk would remain very high or extreme across most of the country Friday despite falling temperatures.
Close to 130,000 hectares have already burned in Spain this year, according to the European EFFIS monitoring system. In 2025, more than 393,000 hectares burned, the largest area scorched in a single year on record in the country.
