New Delhi: A wildfire continued to burn out of control in Spain’s central Guadalajara province on Monday, becoming the country’s largest blaze of the year
as an approaching heatwave raised the risk of further fires.
The La Mierla wildfire had burned for five days and spread across more than 26,000 hectares. Authorities ordered the evacuation of three additional municipalities on Monday. More than 1,000 people have left their homes due to the rapidly expanding fire. Emergency teams focused on protecting residents and stopping the flames from reaching homes and urban areas, Reuters reported.
Towns surrounded by fire
Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano Garcia-Page said the wildfire had surrounded nearly 30 population centres. The situation created serious challenges for firefighters and emergency workers. Authorities deployed firefighting teams and equipment across the affected region. Their main priority remained the protection of lives, homes and populated areas. The fire broke out less than two weeks after another wildfire near Bedar in Almeria province killed 13 people. That incident was one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires in recent decades.
Heatwave raises danger
Spain’s national weather agency AEMET said the country’s third heatwave of 2026 would last at least until Thursday. Temperatures could rise above 40 degrees Celsius across much of Spain’s southeastern interior. Some areas could record temperatures between 42 and 44 degrees Celsius by Thursday as hot and dry air moves north from Africa.
The weather agency warned that the heatwave would push the wildfire threat to extreme levels across large parts of the country. It also forecast possible dry thunderstorms in mountainous areas of eastern Spain. Such storms can produce lightning with little or no rainfall, raising the risk of new fires.
Spain records most damage
Spain has suffered more wildfire damage than any other European Union country this year. Data from the European Union’s Copernicus wildfire monitoring service showed that fires had burned 104,423 hectares across Spain in 2026. France recorded 41,781 hectares of burned land during the same period.
Spain also faced a destructive wildfire season last year. Fires burned 354,747 hectares and authorities recorded 63 large wildfires, the country’s highest annual burned area in a decade. Scientists have linked the increasingly severe wildfire seasons across Spain and southern Europe to climate change, rising temperatures and prolonged dry conditions.
