On July 24, 2026, multiple forest fires spurred by an intense heatwave led Spain’s government to declare a national emergency in the Community of Madrid and the province of Ávila.
Widespread evacuations and the deployment of the national Military Emergency Unit (UME) confirmed what researchers have been saying for years: fires that spread to built-up areas demand radically different responses to those that have governed forest firefighting in Spain up to now.
