Spain Lifts Wildfire Emergency Near Madrid

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday lifted the national state of emergency declared over wildfires west of Madrid that forced thousands of people to evacuate.

Authorities said the fires in Madrid and Avila had stopped spreading and were largely under control, with almost no flames remaining a week after the emergency was declared.

Sanchez announced the decision after meeting regional officials to assess the fires, saying operations would move to a lower emergency level.

“We decided to accept the proposal to switch to operational level 2 and end the national state of emergency,” Sanchez said. 

The Madrid regional government said improved overnight weather had helped cool the affected areas and strengthen the fire perimeters, which had remained stable for several days.

It said there were no active fire fronts and only about 1,000 people remained evacuated.

However, authorities warned that the ongoing heatwave could trigger new outbreaks, with fire risk remaining very high and reaching extreme levels in some areas.

The fires in Madrid and Avila have jointly burned at least 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres).

Authorities said crews would continue monitoring the fire perimeter, responding to new outbreaks and cooling remaining hotspots.

“The meteorological risk of fire remains very high, even extreme in some areas,” the Madrid regional authority said.

“Efforts will focus on maintaining the stability of the perimeter, monitoring for new outbreaks and cooling hot spots.”

The most critical area in Madrid on Thursday was near the San Juan reservoir, about 60 kilometres from the capital, where two towns remained evacuated.

A separate wildfire broke out on Wednesday near Spain’s border with Portugal, forcing more than 600 people to evacuate, emergency services said.

11 areas in Fermoselle were evacuated, while residents in two others were ordered to remain indoors. Several roads were also closed.

Spain’s Military Emergency Unit was deployed after the fire was classified as Level 2, triggering additional support from the central government.

Two other Level 2 fires were also active in the province of Zamora, at Val de la Loba and San Cipriano del Condado.

The area is part of the Castile and Leon region, which has been hit by the largest wildfire recorded in Spain. The blaze in Avila province has burned about 50,000 hectares and remains active.