Firefighters Battle to Keep Madrid Wildfires From Merging

MADRID-Firefighters raced on Friday to prevent two major wildfires west of Madrid from merging into a single blaze as strong winds threatened to worsen what authorities described as the worst wildfire emergency in the Spanish capital’s region.

The fires have forced the evacuation or confinement of about 19,000 people, while smoke drifting from the blazes reached parts of Madrid, leaving some residents waking to smoky conditions.

In the town of Navas del Rey, about 50 kilometers southwest of the capital, dense smoke and falling ash blanketed the area as emergency crews continued efforts to contain the fires. Residents described hazardous conditions as they fled their homes.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the immediate priority was preventing the convergence of two of the three major wildfires burning west of Madrid. Speaking during a visit to the emergency command center in Cenicientos, he warned that strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity were creating highly unfavorable conditions for firefighting operations.

Francisco Martin, the Spanish government’s representative in the Madrid region, said the two fires were close to merging into a single, larger blaze.

Emergency management chief Carlos Novillo said weather conditions were expected to improve overnight, with cooler temperatures and higher humidity forecast for Saturday, potentially aiding containment efforts.

Late on Thursday, Spain’s government declared a national emergency in the Madrid region and neighboring Avila province, enabling additional resources to be deployed more rapidly and placing the Military Emergency Unit (UME) in charge of coordinating the response.

Authorities have ordered around 10,000 people to evacuate in the Madrid region, while confinement orders remained in place for several municipalities.

Among those evacuated were more than 430 elderly people and people with disabilities from five residential care homes, according to the Madrid regional government. Television footage showed Guardia Civil officers assisting wheelchair users onto buses during the evacuations.

The largest evacuation took place in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, where most of the 178 residents of the Lopez Rumayor care home were relocated to the town’s municipal sports hall.

Spain has faced a succession of wildfires in recent days as extreme heat and prolonged dry conditions increased the risk of rapidly spreading fires, particularly in areas with dense, dry vegetation.

The country’s largest active wildfire is burning in Guadalajara province, about 100 kilometers north of Madrid, where it has scorched approximately 32,000 hectares over the past week.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government had mobilized all available resources to respond to the crisis, noting that several regions of Spain, as well as neighboring countries, were confronting severe wildfire conditions.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), nearly 125,000 hectares have burned in Spain so far this year. In 2025, the country recorded one of its worst wildfire seasons on record, with more than 393,000 hectares destroyed.