Overview
- Two fires that began in Burgohondo (Ávila) and the Sierra Oeste of Madrid have fused into one large front that has burned roughly 45,000 hectares and remains largely uncontrolled.
- Authorities have ordered mass evacuations and confinements that various sources place between about 88,000 and 100,000 people, and more than 1,300 vulnerable residents have been moved from care homes to shelters.
- The national government has assumed unified command under the Plan Estatal de Emergencias, extended the emergency declaration to include Toledo, and deployed the Unidad Militar de Emergencias with about 1,201 personnel and 405 ground assets.
- Spain activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism and mobilized foreign help, including amphibious aircraft from Greece and Italy, offers from Turkey, and a roughly 200-strong Portuguese firefighting contingent.
- Front-line commanders report being overwhelmed by extreme fire behaviour driven by strong, changeable winds, and meteorological forecasts of weaker wind and light rain offer only uncertain short-term relief.