The fire is advancing uncontrollably through the Sierra de Espadán natural park in Castellón. The fire, which started in a neighborhood of La Vall d’Uixó (32,000 inhabitants), in an urban area next to the mountain, spread throughout the day, fanned by westerly wind gusts exceeding 50 kilometers per hour, high dryness, and torrid heat. “The fire continues uncontrolled,” the town’s mayor, Tania Baños, said last night in a video on social media.
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Early this morning, a thousand residents of Colonia de San Antonio, more commonly known as Texas, in La Vall d’Uixò had to be preventively evacuated due to the fire’s evolution. The mayor insisted that citizens “please pay attention” to the instructions transmitted through official channels and to the emergency, for a fire with a perimeter of more than 21 kilometers that still remains “out of control.”
With the first light of dawn this Sunday, aerial resources have taken off again, with the hope that the significant predicted decrease in temperature and wind strength and the increase in humidity will aid in the extinction efforts. For now, no figures have been given for the affected hectares.
When the force of nature prevails, fires acquire characteristics that occasionally exceed the extinguishing capacity of any fire service in the world.
— Bombers Dipcas (@BombersDipcas) July 25, 2026
These images are from 9:00 PM in the #IFValldUixó. The extensive mobilized device continues… pic.twitter.com/sSyalmJq9V
More than 16,000 people from 16 municipalities were evacuated last night as a precaution, due to the risk of a fire that has become so voracious that the Castellón Consortium firefighters sent the following message, along with terrifying images captured around 9 PM: “When the force of nature prevails, fires acquire characteristics that occasionally exceed the extinguishing capacity of any fire service in the world.”
The towns of La Vilavella, Artana, Eslida, Tales, Artesa (a hamlet of Onda), Aín, Alcudia de Veo, Alfondeguilla, Sueras, Artesa, Torralba, Villamalur, Fuentes de Ayódar, and Chóvar were evacuated, along with two neighborhoods of Vall d’Uixó, the most populated municipality among those affected, and two from Betxí (the rest of the population of these municipalities is confined). Numerous mountain houses scattered throughout the area were also evacuated.
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Five evacuated municipalities (Eslida, Chóvar, Aín, Alcudia de Veo, and Fuentes de Ayódar) are entirely part of the natural park, while the territories of four others (Alfondeguilla, Artana, Tales, and Sueras) are partially included in one of the most important green lungs of the Valencian Community, which extends from the mountainous interior of Castellón, near the beginning of the province of Teruel, to a few kilometers from the sea.
The President of the Generalitat, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, stated yesterday that many of those 15,000 evacuated people were in a second residence and returned to their homes; others moved to relatives’ or friends’ houses and also spent the night in the three sports centers set up in Nules, Moncofa, and Onda (another will be added in Segorbe). Six people were treated in emergencies, and three of them remain hospitalized for smoke inhalation at La Plana hospital, according to the Emergency Information and Coordination Center (CICU). Several roads connecting the affected towns have been cut.
Additionally, dependent individuals from some of the most affected municipalities were transferred to the Borriana residence.
Tania Baños, mayor of La Vall d’Uixó (Castellón), where about 5,000 residents have been evacuated, emphasized last night that “everyone is well, and that is the main thing.” “People are what matter, and the rest will be a second phase.” She highlighted the exemplary behavior of the citizens and lamented the damage to the inhabitants of this area and to herself: “These mountains are a way of life.”
The Vall d’Uixó fire started in several foci, as municipal sources explained yesterday to Efe, which suggests it may have been intentional, but it remains an unconfirmed hypothesis.
