Wildfires in Spain are setting an alarming new record, according to EU data

Independent

9 hours ago

Spain is battling one of its most destructive fire seasons in decades, with new data showing that wildfire emissions have surged to their highest levels in at least 23 years.
The fires have already killed four people, forced thousands to evacuate and burned more than 382,000 hectares – an area larger than Mallorca.
According to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), wildfire carbon emissions in Spain rose almost vertically on monitoring charts during the first two weeks of August, overtaking all previous years in their dataset that goes back to 2003.
On the graph, the 2025 red line shoots sharply upwards from early August, far surpassing the steady grey lines of earlier years and the long-term average shown in black. By 18 August, Spain 's wildfire emissions were already well above the previous record highs for a full year.
'The wildfire emissions from Spain and Portugal during August has been exceptional,' said Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at CAMS. 'The growth in the total estimated emissions from below averages to reach the highest annual total for Spain in the two decades of the CAMS fire emissions dataset in just 7-8 days.'
The fires, concentrated in the north-western regions of Galicia, Castilla y León, Asturias and Extremadura, were fuelled by a severe 16-day heatwave, with temperatures topping 44 degrees Celsius in some areas.
Spain's weather agency AEMET declared the end of the heatwave on Monday as rain and cooler conditions are forecast for this week. However, the agency warned of continued 'very high or extreme' fire risk across Galicia.
Thousands of troops and firefighters, backed by water-bombing aircraft and reinforcements from several European countries, have been deployed to contain the blazes.
Air quality has also deteriorated sharply across much of the peninsula. Observations from Spain's monitoring network and CAMS forecasts show levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) soaring well above World Health Organisation guidelines, which set the safe daily mean at 15ug/m3.
Thick smoke has spread hundreds of kilometres, with plumes carried over France, the UK and Scandinavia, adding to haze already drifting in from Canadian wildfires across the Atlantic.
Prime minister Pedro Sánchez acknowledged the role of global heating in worsening the disaster.
'Science tells us so, and common sense tells us so as well, especially that of farmers and those who live in rural areas, that the climate is changing, that the climate emergency is worsening, that it is becoming more recurrent, more frequent, and each time has a greater impact,' he said.
Visiting affected areas, Mr Sánchez said the government would designate emergency zones eligible for reconstruction aid and pledged to propose turning climate emergency policies into permanent state law.
Neighbouring Portugal is also experiencing one of its worst wildfire years in two decades, with more than 235,000 hectares burned so far – nearly five times the 2006–2024 average for this period, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
Authorities there have deployed over 3,700 firefighters and declared successive states of emergency since early August. Two people have died, and at least 5,000 firefighters were mobilised at the peak of the crisis.
France, meanwhile, saw its most devastating blaze in the Mediterranean region in half a century earlier this month, when 17,000 hectares burned in the Aude department between Carcassonne and Perpignan.
Across the continent, more than 439,000 hectares have already gone up in flames this year – double the 19-year average for the same period.
Spain has faced devastating wildfires before. In 2022, nearly 310,000 hectares burned during what was then considered the country's worst fire season of the century. But in comparison, this year, by mid-August, the fire-scarred area has risen to between 343,000 and 382,000 hectares, shattering the 2022 record in just eight months.
Scientists warn that the climate crisis is stacking the odds towards more frequent and intense fire seasons. Europe has been warming at twice the global rate since the 1980s, with prolonged droughts and record-breaking heatwaves drying out vegetation and creating tinderbox conditions.
Many of the fires are believed to be caused by human activity: Spain's Civil Guard has arrested 23 people on suspicion of arson and is investigating nearly 90 more.