Europe faces worst wildfire season on record, Spain at epicentre

Spain is grappling with several large wildfires even as a 16-day heatwave that scorched the country is beginning to ease.

Authorities have deployed around 2,000 soldiers to combat the blazes, including 12 active fires in the northwestern region of Galicia, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Temperatures surpassed 44 degrees Celsius in parts of Spain over the weekend, with officials warning of a very high risk of fires across “practically the entire country.”

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the situation as part of a worsening “climate emergency,” stressing the role of climate change in intensifying wildfires.

“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,” Sanchez said. The fires have already destroyed an area twice the size of London.

The crisis is not limited to Spain. Neighbouring Portugal has deployed more than 5,000 firefighters to tackle wildfires raging through northern and central regions, where the area of burnt forest this year is already 17 times higher than in 2024.

In France, more than 2,100 firefighters were mobilised last week to contain a massive blaze in the southern Aude region, the country’s largest wildfire since 1949.

Wildfires have also been reported in Greece, Italy, Türkiye and across the Balkans, adding to a wider emergency across southern Europe.

In Spain, the intensity of wildfire activity has contributed to a sharp increase in emissions, with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reporting that Spain’s total wildfire emissions so far this year reached the highest levels since 2003 within just a few days. Air quality has deteriorated significantly, with PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the World Health Organisation’s safe threshold in several areas.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), Europe is on course for its worst wildfire season on record. As of August 13, 439,568 hectares had already burned across EU member states in 2025 — an area larger than Luxembourg. The figure is more than double the 19-year average for this period, which stood at 218,417 hectares between 2006 and 2024, and far above the 188,643 hectares burned during the same period last year.

By Tamilla Hasanova