The climate crisis makes this summer's historic and devastating wildfires on the Iberian Peninsula 40 times more likely, with sustained extreme conditions of heat, drought, and wind. This is the conclusion of a recent study by scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA)The data indicate that the heat waves and drought experienced during the summer months intensified the rapid spread of fires in Spain and Portugal, with temperatures above 40°C for ten consecutive days, specifically between August 8 and 17, the hottest episode ever recorded in the state.

Over the past seven weeks People have been remanded in custody for allegedly starting fires that plagued Galicia, Castilla y León, and Extremadura this August, according to data from the High Courts of Justice in these regions. However, since the beginning of June, more than fifty arrests have been made across the country for causing fires, according to the Ministry of the Interior's tally. Furthermore, 142 people have been investigated for the same reason since the beginning of summer.

The rain and the forecast of improved weather conditions allow us to be, for the first time, optimistic and to begin to see light at the end of the long tunnel of the last two weeks, in which 350,000 hectares have already burned in the northwest of the Peninsula. The Jarilla fire (Cáceres), the largest in recent history in Extremadura, has stabilized after eleven days of activity, and the Picos de Europa and several outbreaks in Ourense have also been brought under control. However, there are still nearly twenty active fires that prevent emergency teams from lowering their guard, much less declaring victory: in Galicia, new outbreaks have been declared in Pontevedra and Lugo, and in Castilla y León, the fires in the El Bierzo region are worrying due to the wind and the complicated .

Although temperatures are dropping across much of the country, the fires in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula are continuing unabated: some twenty serious fires are burning simultaneously, and 2025 has already become the worst year of the 21st century in terms of fires. Those affecting the provinces of Ourense (Galicia), northwest Castilla y León, and Cáceres (Extremadura) are of greatest concern to emergency services. At this point, there are still 21 active fires in phase 2 of a maximum scale of 3, meaning they pose an imminent risk to people and property, according to the latest data from the State Coordination Committee (Cecod).

There will be an increasing number of wildfires that cannot be controlled. This is what experts warn, both scientists and technicians and professionals who risk their lives fighting fires, because the climate crisis is worsening the context in which they occur and making them more difficult to extinguish. They have always occurred, it's true, and in our Mediterranean climate they are a constant, but now, when they occur, they can be more lethal due to the intensification of extreme events caused by global warming. This happens with fire and also with water. Large torrents, known as DANAS, are also becoming more intense and frequent, so it is essential to be prepared.

The threat of the fire that has been burning the western half of Spain for a week has forced the evacuation of more than 31,100 people in several provinces, while most of the fires burn out of control, fueled by high temperatures and that They have already devastated 200,000 hectaresThe main outbreaks are concentrated in Extremadura, Castile and León, and Galicia, where up to 6,000 National Police, Civil Guard, and Civil Protection personnel, as well as firefighter crews, have been deployed, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements sent from various European countries to help extinguish the fires. In northeast Zamora (Castile and León), six municipalities around Lake Sanabria are under lockdown and another six have been evacuated, with a total of 8,000 people affected.

Spain burnsThe chain of simultaneous fires in Galicia, Castile and León, the Community of Madrid, Andalusia, Extremadura, and Valencia is overwhelming firefighters and adding to the already complex political climate. The real fire and the metaphorical political fire are feeding off each other. The fratricidal struggle between the right and the left has found its way into this episode of forest fires. another reason for overheatingIn this politically fractured Spain, everything is exploited, even scorched earth. Even in cases of natural disasters like this, Spanish politics makes no concessions, no respite.