SPAIN’S biggest wildfire of 2026 has torn through Andalucia, burning more than 36 square kilometres — an area five times the size of Gibraltar — in Huelva province.
The blaze broke out on June 9 near Villanueva de los Castillejos, has forced 352 people from their homes and been described by officials as a fire of ‘great complexity’.
Military units from the Unidad Militar de Emergencias (Military Emergency Unit, UME) worked through the night as firefighters raced to contain the inferno before a forecast wind direction change threatened to push it further towards the town of Gibraleon.
Units from the UME’s Second Battalion departed their base at Moron, in Sevilla province, to join more than 250 ground personnel, 13 water tankers and aerial resources from the Ejercito del Aire‘s 43rd Group already fighting the blaze.
At 36 square kilometres, the fire has consumed roughly 12% of all land burned across Spain in the whole of 2026 — in a single incident.
RTVE Journalist Diego Garces described it as ‘the first great fire of the season in Andalucia’.
Of the 352 people evacuated, 234 have since returned to their homes.
Twenty-six residents of the Venta de los Cazadores residential area were moved out preventively, and the N-431 road was closed in both directions between the Los Cazadores junction and the Gibraleon bridge.
Firefighters concentrated overnight efforts on the fire’s left flank — the zone with the heaviest vegetation and fuel load — as well as its head, advancing towards Gibraleon, and its tail near the point of origin.
The Junta escalated the emergency overnight to Situacion Operativa 2 under Plan INFOCA, its wildfire management protocol, as wind gusts of up to 40 km/h and a forecast wind direction change on the morning of June 10 were identified as the critical threat.
“The evolution of the fire and meteorological forecasts — especially the forecast wind direction change mid-morning — advise reinforcing the response with additional regional resources and requesting the incorporation of the UME,” senior Junta official Antonio Sanz said.
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Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that ‘the fire continues to advance in Huelva and leaves thousands of hectares burned,’ expressing solidarity with evacuated residents.
Spanish Finance Minister Maria Jesus Montero called on the Junta to deploy ‘all human and material resources necessary’.
Her call came as PSOE regional deputy Maria Marquez alleged that INFOCA professionals had been ‘asking for help’ and accused the Junta of ‘disastrous management’ of fires across the province over the previous 10 days.
The fire is burning as Spain’s wildfire season is already running at four times the pace of 2025 at the same point in the calendar — and 2025 was itself the worst year for wildfires in Spain in more than a decade, with over 354 square kilometres burned nationwide.
Spain had recorded just seven wildfires larger than five square kilometres in the whole of 2026 before this one ignited.
Spain had burned a total of 302 square kilometres across all fires in 2026 before this blaze broke out — meaning a single fire in Huelva has consumed 12% of the country’s entire year-to-date total.
Andalucia launched what it called an unprecedented anti-wildfire campaign on June 1, citing a 40% surge in blazes compared to the previous year.
The official start of summer is 11 days away.
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