SPAIN has called for help from Brussels after declaring a national emergency over three fast-moving wildfires near Madrid.
Around 11,500 people were evacuated from towns near the Spanish capital and neighbouring Avila on Thursday and Friday, prompting officials to request ‘at least’ four firefighting aircraft from European allies to help battle the blazes.
Strong winds and low humidity are fuelling the fires in Villa del Prado, San Martin de Valdeiglesias and Burgohondo, officials say, with Madrid regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso calling on the central government to activate the highest emergency level, Operational Situation 3, on Friday.
Level 3 is declared when there is a direct threat to the population and property, with the central government assuming sole responsibility for coordinating the emergency response.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska had previously declared a national emergency for the provinces of Madrid and Avila on Thursday night.
According to Spanish media reports, Greece has accepted Spain’s request and pledged to send two Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft.
Meanwhile, more than 270 firefighters – including personnel from Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME) – are battling the flames alongside 40 ground vehicles.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X on Friday: “We are living through a dramatic situation, not only in various Spanish provinces but also in regions of neighbouring countries.
READ MORE: Andalucia records more than 40% of last summer’s wildfires as high-risk season continues
“Forest fires are ravaging thousands of hectares and affecting numerous communities.
“I want to express my full solidarity with everyone watching the flames consume their forests and threaten their homes.”
It comes as Spain reels from multiple active fire fronts across the country, with emergency services still battling blazes in Guadalajara, Leon and Huelva in Andalucia.
More than 1,300 square kilometres of countryside have already been lost to fire this year, according to the EU’s fire monitoring system, Copernicus.
The figure is more than two and a half times the average for the past 20 years.
The Guadalajara wildfire alone — Spain’s largest this year and the second-largest in the country’s recorded history — has scorched 350 square kilometres since breaking out a week ago.
Hundreds of residents were evacuated from their homes across 34 towns in the affected area, while some 200 firefighters continued tackling the blaze on Thursday.
Spain has already suffered 355 fires this year, according to Copernicus — 25 more than last year, which was the country’s worst wildfire season on record, with nearly 4,000 square kilometres going up in flames by December 31.
As of early this week, more than 20 of this year’s fires had been classified as ‘major,’ meaning they each affected at least five square kilometres.
In early July, a deadly blaze in Almeria province killed 13 people — 12 of them expats, including seven Britons — and forced more than 1,500 people to evacuate their homes.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Guadalajara on Wednesday as firefighters continued battling the blaze, calling on all political parties to come together in the fight against climate change.
“Year after year we clearly see how climate change kills and destroys wealth in our communities,” he said.
“This is not politics. It is science. It is about facts.”
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