Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has stated that the next 12 hours will be "decisive" for a large wildfire burning near Madrid, as extreme heat continues to challenge firefighters battling blazes across southern Europe.
Wildfire Update
Overnight, dozens of ground crews managed to contain the Madrid fire, emergency services for the region reported on Wednesday morning. However, a separate fire near València, where temperatures are expected to reach 32C, remains out of control. Temperatures pushed higher by climate breakdown are forecast to hit 39C in Bordeaux, where firefighters have kept a massive blaze in nearby pine forests from reaching the suburbs, and 37C in Madrid.
In televised comments from the Navalcarnero command centre, Sánchez said the situation near the capital was improving but stressed it was the first time in Spanish history that a wildfire had been raised to "operational level 3", with the national government taking over the disaster response. "I believe the next 12 hours will be very important," he said. "They are going to be decisive in consolidating the work done by the national civil protection system."
Record-Breaking Season
The fourth heatwave of western Europe's scorching summer, accompanied by strong winds, has alarmed firefighters, who warn it makes blazes harder to quell and raises the risk of fires restarting in stabilized areas. Wildfires have burned a record-breaking area of France, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, while both France and Spain have experienced record-breaking numbers of fires for this time of year. More than 330,000 people in southern Europe have been forced to flee their homes and hotels.
Officials began to lift evacuation orders on Tuesday, allowing tens of thousands to return to towns near Bordeaux, Madrid and València. Some found burnt-out buildings and charred belongings. José Fernández, a 74-year-old pensioner, told AFP he had "no money, no documents, no home" after returning to the remains of his house in Pelayos de la Presa. "This place has been reduced to a total ruin."
EU Response and Prevention
The European Commission sent France seven planes and four helicopters from countries including Sweden and Turkey, while in Spain, it mobilised six planes from Greece, Italy and Turkey, along with 134 personnel and 41 vehicles from Portugal. A Super Puma helicopter from Serbia was expected to arrive in Madrid on Wednesday, with 40 personnel and 18 vehicles to follow, according to Spain's interior ministry.
Maria Zuber, a senior official at the EU's emergency response coordination centre in Brussels, said the next few days would be "very difficult" for France and that "now we see it will go to Greece". Moisés Galán Santano, a wildfire expert at the ERCC, said more needed to be done on prevention: "The [emergency] response is not only the answer. It's the last answer. But it's not all the answer. We need to focus on prevention."
Earlier this year, a policy paper from the European Commission promoted measures such as more extensive grazing, restoration of wetlands, rivers and floodplains, better data on forest fires, and raising public awareness. Scientists say western Europe's scorching summer has been deadly and exacerbated by fossil fuel pollution. Rapid analyses found June's heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without climate breakdown, and recent soil dryness in western Europe was made five times more likely. Heatwaves are estimated to have claimed at least 10,000 lives and cost grain farmers €2bn in lost crops.
Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green party, called for action, noting the European Commission had not yet published its heating and cooling plan. "Climate-driven heatwaves and wildfires are already claiming lives, destroying homes and ravaging forests at a record pace," she said. "There is a widening gap between the scale of Europe's heatwaves – literally hitting every EU country – and the absence of decisive European action."
