Spain designates 16 regions as 'emergency areas' after devastating wildfires

Smoke rises in the province of Ourense, Galicia region, in Spain, 19 August, 2025.
Reuters

Emergency areas have been officially designated in Spain after 113 wildfires destroyed more than 400,000 hectares this summer. Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska made the announcement on Wednesday.

There are a total of 16 'disaster zones' included in the coverage, which will see authorities provide aid and resources to impacted communities to help boost recovery for residents, businesses and local authorities.

Grande-Marlaska described the fires as “one of the greatest environmental catastrophes of recent years” and noted it is still too early to fully assess the damage in the affected areas.

“The cabinet meeting has just declared areas seriously affected by that civil protection emergency, all those that in the last two months, from 23 June to 25 August, have suffered any of the 113 major forest fires,” Grande-Marlaska said.

Southern Europe is currently facing one of its most severe wildfire seasons in two decades, and Spain alone has seen an estimated 400,000 hectares burned, the largest recorded area since records began in 2006.

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