Firefighters in Spain have been struggling to control wildfires that have devastated record swathes of land, forced thousands from their homes and claimed three lives.
On Thursday, fires were burning in almost all of the country’s 17 regions, with the biggest blazes concentrated in the northwestern provinces of Ourense, León and Zamora and the western province of Cáceres.
The Zamora blaze, which began on Sunday, has already devoured 38,000 hectares of land making it the largest since Spanish records began.
Spanish firefighters battled to contain wildfires across the Zamora region, as strong winds and scorching heat fueled blazes that forced the evacuation of more than 5,000 people in the Castile and Leon region https://t.co/tspO8NKEDJ pic.twitter.com/g82gSFPLwd
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 13, 2025
In León and Zamora, more than 8,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes this week because of the threat posed by fires.
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A 37-year-old volunteer who had suffered severe burns while battling a blaze in León died on Thursday. His death brings the toll this week to three. Previously, another male volunteer was killed in León and a Romanian man died in Tres Cantos, just north of Madrid, when flames destroyed the stud where he worked.
“Let’s not forget the injured and those people who suffer the pain of the fires,” wrote prime minister Pedro Sánchez on social media as he paid tribute to the latest victim.
In a separate post he wrote: “The risk remains very high: prudence and responsibility [are recommended]. Thank you to those who, with their inexhaustible efforts and courage, are saving lives, homes and nature.”
The fires have coincided with a prolonged heatwave that began on August 3rd that has produced temperatures consistently reaching into the mid-40s in many areas of the country. Much of the rest of southern Europe has seen similar conditions and wildfire outbreaks.
In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters have been trying to contain several large blazes in the north of the country. Record-breaking temperatures have been recorded in recent days in several areas of France and Croatia, where fires have been burning along the country’s coasts and expanding into neighbouring Balkan nations. In Greece, fires have forced thousands of people out of their homes and caused the tourist islands of Chios and Zakynthos to be evacuated.
A total of 440,000 hectares of land across the euro zone have been affected by fires so far this year, double the average for the same period since 2006, according to the EU Science Hub Joint Research Centre.
Although Spain is accustomed to summer wildfires, this year’s are considered particularly fierce.
“It was terrible, like a horror film,” said Beatriz Madrid (44), who was evacuated from her home in Zamora as flames came perilously close. “We didn’t have time to get out; the fire was eating us.”
About 80,000 hectares of land across Spain have burned in 2025, compared to approximately 54,000 hectares for the same period on average over the last 20 years, putting enormous pressure on infrastructure and firefighting resources. The high-speed rail link between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia has been disrupted several times by the fires. Meanwhile, two French water-bomber aircraft, provided by the European Union, arrived on Thursday to help firefighting efforts.
[ In pictures: Europe’s wildfires spread close to southern capitalsOpens in new window ]
Although dry conditions and high winds have been blamed for much of the devastation, the country’s preparedness for such a crisis has come under scrutiny. Figures published by the national association of forestry firms showed that state spending on fire prevention had halved between 2009 and 2022. However, the government has said that the national budget for fire prevention increased this year by 29 per cent.
Although several hundred residents were able to return to their homes on Thursday in northwestern Spain and several smaller fires were brought under control, the overall outlook over the coming days is expected to depend heavily on weather conditions.
