The fire that started on Wednesday afternoon in the Toledo municipality of Almorox, which quickly spread to the Community of Madrid and forced the evacuation of several urbanizations, is now contained and has dropped to level 1 severity after burning an approximate area of 1,000 hectares, as confirmed by the Minister of Sustainable Development of Castilla-La Mancha, Mercedes Gómez. The third vice-president of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, this Thursday put figures on the fires ravaging Spain: 108,000 hectares burned so far this year, four times more than what had burned last year at this time. In an interview on Cadena SER, Aagesen stated that a total of 1,900 forest fires have occurred in this period. There are five fires of “special relevance” active, according to the minister, referring to those in La Mierla and Selas in Guadalajara, Almorox in Toledo and Villa del Prado in Madrid, Castropodame in León and Borgohondo, in Ávila. To these must be added fires in Soria, Segovia and Huelva, as recalled by the head of Ecological Transition.
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Castilla-La Mancha | Fire started in Almorox (Toledo) contained after burning about 1,000 hectares
The fire that originated this Wednesday afternoon in the Toledo municipality of Almorox, which quickly spread to the Community of Madrid and forced the evacuation of several urbanizations, is now contained and has dropped to level 1 severity after burning an approximate area of 1,000 hectares. The Minister of Sustainable Development of Castilla-La Mancha, Mercedes Gómez, explained from the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) that this fire is one of the so-called “urban-forest interface” fires, which are “very, very dangerous.”
The Cecopi met this Thursday to analyze the fires affecting the autonomous community. The minister pointed out that the fire “is already contained, although it is not extinguished.” Mercedes Gómez confirmed that there are homes affected by the fire, but specified that she does not yet have “reliable information on the number of homes or the homes affected in both Castilla-La Mancha and the Community of Madrid.” (Efe)
Castilla-La Mancha | Four villages from the Guadalajara fire re-housed, with one front still open
The forest fire affecting the Sierra Norte de Guadalajara continues to have an open front, although the perimeter is being controlled “little by little” and residents of Palancares, Almiruete, La Mierla, and Muriel have already been able to return to their homes. This was reported by the Minister of Sustainable Development, Mercedes Gómez, who chaired this Thursday’s meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), one week after a fire that has already devastated 32,000 hectares was declared.
With these four villages, nine have now been re-housed, out of the 34 that remain within the 120-kilometer perimeter surrounding the fire, and the minister stated that “it is getting closer and closer to us being able to de-escalate each and every one.”
As detailed by Gómez, the Civil Guard has proceeded to open the access roads to the localities, after “exhaustive work” to verify that basic services, such as electricity, water, and communications, are functioning in these villages.
The minister pointed out that, although the fire and extinction efforts have caused numerous damages that will need to be evaluated, no homes in these towns have been affected by the flames.
Regarding the evolution of the fire, she reported that there continues to be an open front in the northwest area of the fire, where the Military Emergency Unit (UME) is carrying out its work and technical fire is being used.
The “good news,” she added, is that the fire “practically has not advanced” during the night and the established safety barrier has not been breached, so it has not reached new municipalities and the province of Soria “remains clear.”
For this Thursday, extinction efforts will focus on trying to “consolidate” the perimeter, and the minister indicated that the wind will be favorable. However, she warned, forecasts for Friday are that there could be gusts of more than 50 km/h, which “will seriously hinder the possibility of definitive control of that part of the fire.”
Regarding the investigation into the causes of this fire, which could have been caused by a harvester, she indicated that the report has not been concluded “because we literally haven’t had time.” “Our absolute priority right now is to control the fires we have,” she said.
Furthermore, when asked about the decision of the Ciudad Real Provincial Council not to send resources to the Guadalajara fire, Gómez indicated that the provincial institution stated that “they were on extreme alert in the province of Ciudad Real and could not deploy any of their resources.” “Evidently, it is a decision that we do not, that we do not share. We believe they could have provided, even with a minimum staffing service, relief to their fellow firefighters from other provincial councils,” lamented the minister, who recalled that firefighters from the rest of the provincial councils and several communities participated in the extinction efforts. (Efe)
Castilla y León | Nine fires surround the community, which is in operational situation 2
Castilla y León started Thursday with nine active fires, four of them with a severity index of two, distributed across León, Ávila, Zamora, Segovia, and Soria. Since yesterday afternoon, Castilla y León has been in operational situation two, given that these forest fires can seriously affect the population and non-forest assets, and require protection and relief measures that may demand extraordinary resources.
At severity level two, the maximum, are Retortillo, in Soria, on alert for the Guadalajara fire; Burgohondo, in Ávila; Castropodame, in the Leonese region of El Bierzo; and Rábano de Aliste, on the border of Zamora with Portugal. At level one are the fires in Brieva, in Segovia, and Murias de Ponjos, in the Leonese region of Omaña.
Additionally, there are active fires in Fuentes de Valdepero, in Palencia; and in La Baña, also in León; with Arcos de Jalón, in Soria, on alert for the Guadalajara fire. In the case of Burgohondo, the proximity of the flames to the neighborhoods of Puente Nueva and Matalaceña led to the evacuation of a hundred people last night. The Military Emergency Unit (UME) has joined this fire, which maintains level 2 on the Potential Severity Index (IGR).
Castilla y León | Rábano de Aliste (Zamora) de-confined after forest fire contained
The Zamoran town of Rábano de Aliste has been de-confined this Thursday morning after its confinement was decreed on Wednesday night due to the forest fire affecting that municipality, which extinction efforts during the night have allowed to contain.
Throughout the night, conditions have been favorable, with temperatures dropping, and the action of up to six machinery teams has allowed the terrain to be contained, although flames still remain within that delimited area, as reported by the territorial delegate of the Junta de Castilla y León in Zamora, Fernando Prada.
The fire was declared around half past seven in the evening for reasons yet to be determined, and its advance three hours later forced the declaration of potential severity level two, on a scale of zero to three, due to the danger the fire posed to populations.
The confinement affected the urban area of Rábano de Aliste, where about 55 people registered in that town usually reside, out of the more than 300 that the Town Council has with three other annexes, although the population multiplies in summer.
In the extinction efforts for this fire located west of the province of Zamora, near the border with Portugal, up to about fifty resources have participated, and this Thursday morning, two technicians, eight environmental agents, five ground crews, five fire engines, six machinery teams, and two fire brigades from the Provincial Fire Extinction Consortium of the Zamora Provincial Council are working in the area. (Efe)
Castilla-La Mancha | The Almorox fire remains unstable but its evolution is favorable
About twenty ground resources have worked all night on the fire that started yesterday in Almorox (Toledo), which has affected the Community of Madrid in the area of Villa del Prado and Aldea del Fresno, and whose evolution is favorable.
Around 00:45, the evacuated residents were able to return to their homes, except for those from the El Encinar del Alberche urbanization, located in the Madrid municipality of Villa del Prado.
The progress of the work is positive, but for now, the fire is not stabilized, according to Emergencias 112 Comunidad de Madrid.
Traffic remains cut off on roads M-507, direction Navalcarnero, and N-403, direction Toledo, at the intersection of both roads, as well as M-540.
About 200 residents of Encinar del Alberche are re-housed in the Villa del Prado Sports Center, according to the same source.
Last night, the Madrid 112 Security and Emergency Agency (ASEM112) sent an ES-Alert message warning that the fire was approaching the aforementioned urbanization, so residents of Ribera del Alberche, Rincón del Alberche, and the campsite had to go to the interior of the town of Aldea del Fresno.
Personnel from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) based in Torrejón moved yesterday to this fire, detected around 17:00 by a fixed watchman, which also forced the evacuation of two urbanizations in the Toledo municipality.
The Community of Madrid has activated operational situation 2 of the Forest Fire Plan (Infoma) for this fire, which forced residents of Villa del Prado to confine themselves to their homes yesterday. (Efe)
Castilla y León | 100 people evacuated in Burgohondo (Ávila) due to fire, UME joins efforts
The proximity of the flames to the neighborhoods of Puente Nueva and Matalaceña in Burgohondo (Ávila) led to the evacuation of a hundred people last night, and the Military Emergency Unit (UME) has joined this fire, which maintains level 2 on the Potential Severity Index (IGR).
According to the mayor of this municipality, with 1,300 inhabitants and located about 36 kilometers southeast of the capital, Francisco Fernández, of the hundred evacuated people, 52 spent the night in the municipal sports center, while the rest returned to their homes in Ávila or Madrid.
This is because these days this town triples its inhabitants, waiting for the number to increase to 6,000 in August, coinciding with the summer festivities, as explained by the mayor, who indicated that, if the favorable evolution continues, probably throughout Thursday the evacuated residents will be able to return to their homes.
These neighborhoods, located about 2.5 kilometers from the town’s urban center, saw flames approaching whose intensity “decreased” during the night, thanks to the drop in temperatures and the work of the thirty human and material resources, including UME personnel, awaiting the incorporation of aerial resources.
Currently working on the extinction tasks of this fire, which started at 13:02 on Wednesday for unknown reasons, are five fire engines; ten ground crews; one Forest Fire Fighting Specialists (ELIF) crew; ten environmental agents and three other unspecified resources. According to the mayor, after the intensity of the flames decreased due to the operational work and the drop in night temperatures, it is expected that the arrival of aerial resources may improve the situation around this fire, which mainly burns gorse, oaks, and scrubland.
Although the origin of the flames occurred in the municipality of Burgohondo, where the mayor estimates that about a hundred hectares may have burned, most of the burned area affects the neighboring municipality of Navaluenga, towards whose territory the fire advanced, pushed by strong gusts of wind.
Given this situation, level 2 of the IGR is maintained, while in the Community, the coincidence of several fires and their severity has led the Junta to declare Operational Situation 2.
On Thursday, the managers of the Venero Claro children’s colony in Navaluenga decided to voluntarily leave the area as a precaution, as the flames remained distant, as confirmed by the territorial delegate of the Junta de Castilla y León in Ávila, José Francisco Hernández.
This fire started at 13:02 on Thursday, at 15:15 the Junta declared level 1 IGR and at 15:15 raised it to level 2, given the possible impact on the urban area, as well as the affection of more than 300 hectares of wooded areas. (Efe)
108,000 hectares have already burned in Spain so far this year, four times more than in the same period of 2025
The third vice-president of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has put figures on the fires ravaging Spain: 108,000 hectares burned so far this year, four times more than what had burned last year at this time. In an interview on Cadena SER, Aagesen stated that a total of 1,900 forest fires have occurred in this period.
Castilla-La Mancha | The La Mierla fire is in stabilization phase, Almorox will be in hours, and Selas is contained
Sources from the regional government indicate that the La Mierla fire, which completes its first week active, remains in the stabilization phase and its favorable evolution could lead to the decision to lift the evacuations of some of the evacuated buildings.
These sources also indicate that the fire originated in Selas is already contained and all evacuated residents have returned to their homes.
The last major fire suffered in Castilla-La Mancha, originated in Almorox late Wednesday afternoon, could also be stabilized in the coming hours, and only one urbanization, already in Madrid territory, remains evacuated. (EP)
Forest Fires
The return of some residents of Guadalajara after the fire nightmare: “You could hear hell coming”
The landscape of the Sierra Norte de Guadalajara is desolate. More than 32,000 hectares have been devastated by the largest fire in the history of Castilla-La Mancha, which this Wednesday for the first time seems to offer a respite after more than six days. Some villages have been re-housed, others remain confined or evacuated. The hamlet of Naharros, north of the burned area, was evacuated on Sunday, although they had already been seeing smoke approaching for two days and embers over 10 centimeters falling. When the order came on Sunday, “everyone was ready and out,” says its mayor, Ricardo Antón, who recalls the arrival of the fire as if “hell was approaching”: “You see the whole mountain above burning and you hear it overhead.” At that moment there were about a hundred people in the village, but only five of them stayed to defend it alongside the firefighters. One of them was its mayor.
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forest fires
The Toledo fire that caused evacuations and confinements in the western sierra of Madrid remains active
About twenty ground resources have spent the night working tirelessly on the extinction efforts of the serious fire that on Wednesday afternoon jumped from Toledo to the Community of Madrid and forced evacuations, confinements, and displacements of small towns and a campsite in the western Madrid sierra, as well as the intervention of the UME. In its latest update, the Government of Madrid explains that the extinction work is being “very positive,” but that the personnel prefer not to declare it stabilized until a few hours pass and the situation can be properly evaluated in daylight. The perimeter has remained “without variations” throughout the night. There are no injured or smoke-intoxicated people, but there are about thirty affected houses.
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Good morning. We begin the live coverage of the latest news on fires in Spain, this Thursday, July 23.
Firefighters and the Military Emergency Unit are fighting to contain a level 2 fire that has broken out in the vicinity of the Leonese town of Castropodame and near Villaverde de los Cestos. The flames have grown rapidly due to intense wind and the extensive vegetation and pine trees in these municipalities of the El Bierzo region, habitually affected by fires and especially damaged in 2025. Meanwhile, the fight continues against the serious fire in the Sierra Norte de Guadalajara, already in the stabilization phase after devastating at least some 32,000 hectares, while other teams are trying to extinguish fires declared in the Castilian-Leonese provinces of Segovia and Ávila and in the Aragonese provinces of Huesca and Teruel, as well as in the interior of Huelva. The UME has joined the extinction efforts for a fire that broke out on Wednesday afternoon in Toledo and has spread to the Community of Madrid, where the El Encinar del Alberche urbanization has been evacuated and residents of Villa del Prado confined. The heatwave will bring temperatures up to 44 ºC in parts of the Valencian Community and Murcia, with a red alert for high temperatures, while another ten communities have orange or yellow alerts.
