Hundreds evacuated as wildfires burn in Spain as country braces for its third heatwave and 45C temperatures

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 14:52 EDT, 19 July 2026 | Updated: 14:52 EDT, 19 July 2026 Hundreds flee wildfires sweeping Spain as the country braces for a third heatwave and searing 45C temperatures. Firefighters were battling a wildfire north of Madrid on Sunday that has burned around 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of land and forced some 700 residents to evacuate, authorities said.Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a post on X that his government was closely monitoring the wildfire and thanked firefighters 'working tirelessly' to protect lives and bring the blaze under control.Around 300 firefighters, supported by 26 water-dropping aircraft, were working to contain the blaze, which broke out on Thursday amid scorching temperatures in Guadalajara province, the regional forest fire response service said on X.The fire has been described as 'difficult' by the head of the regional government, Emiliano García-Page.It broke out in a forest-covered mountainous area that includes the Sierra Norte Natural Park, home to endangered species including eagles, wolves and butterflies.The wildfire comes after another blaze broke out on Wednesday near Zaragoza, in the northeastern region of Aragon, forcing around 1,000 people to evacuate their homes.Firefighters, aided by improved weather conditions, had managed to curtail the fire's spread, Aragon's deputy regional president María del Mar Vaquero told Spanish public television. The military fighting a wildfire in La Mierla area, near Guadalajara, about 100 kilometers north of Madrid The military are pictured assisting efforts to tackle the blaze A major wildfire that has been raging for two days in northeast Spain has reduced more than 12,000 hectares of land to ash'Emergency services will determine when the residents of the five evacuated villages can return home,' she said.The fire has burned around 14,400 hectares, Vaquero said, revising down an earlier estimate of about 16,000 hectares.No casualties have been reported. Spain's State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has warned the country is expected to enter its third heatwave of the summer, with the extreme conditions currently forecast to last until at least Thursday, July 23. Temperatures are forecast to rise gradually before reaching their peak on Thursday, when some areas in the south-eastern third of mainland Spain could approach or even exceed 45C. Earlier this month, Spain suffered one of its deadliest wildfires in recent history when a blaze in the southern province of Almeria killed 13 people and destroyed around 7,000 hectares.Spain is on the front line of climate change and has experienced increasingly long and frequent heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures regularly exceeding 40C, creating conditions conducive to devastating wildfires.The soaring temperatures are also expected to push the risk of forest fires to extreme levels. The situation could be further complicated by the possibility of dry thunderstorms developing over mountainous areas during the afternoons, potentially producing lightning but very little rain and increasing the risk of further fires breaking out. Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the length, intensity and frequency of heatwaves, drying out vegetation and contributing to a greater risk of wildfires.