Relentless European Heatwave Fuels Spanish Wildfires, Taking Third Life

Spain is in the grip of one of its most dangerous wildfire seasons in recent memory, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned that the threat remains extreme. Across Europe, governments already stretched to their limits are turning to neighbouring nations for help.

The European Commission has announced it is sending water-bombing planes to assist Spain as deadly blazes rage across the country. Similar firefighting support is being deployed to several Balkan states as well.

In Spain’s Castile and León region, tragedy struck again on Thursday when a volunteer firefighter died battling the flames, just two days after another volunteer in the same area was killed. Earlier in the week, a man lost his life on the outskirts of Madrid while trying to rescue horses from a burning stable.

In Greece, firefighters fought through the night to push back a wildfire that tore through the outskirts of Patras, the nation’s third-largest city. The blaze forced the evacuation of both a children’s hospital and a retirement home. Local media reported that a 19-year-old man had confessed to starting the fire and was among several people arrested. Although the situation has eased somewhat, fire service spokesperson Vasilios Vathrakoyannis warned that the risk remains extremely high for much of the country.

Spain has deployed 1,000 military personnel and 50 aircraft to fight the fires. It has become the fifth nation in a week to trigger the EU’s civil protection mechanism. Two firefighting planes based in France are expected to arrive in Spain shortly. Greece, which activated the exact mechanism on Tuesday, will receive two Swedish helicopters stationed in Bulgaria. Other countries, including Bulgaria, Albania and Montenegro, have also received outside assistance. In Montenegro, a soldier died while battling a blaze near the capital.

The EU’s civil protection mechanism, which coordinates joint responses during major disasters, has already been activated 16 times this fire season — matching the total for the entire 2024 season. This year, more than half a million hectares have burned across Europe, a 134% increase compared to the average over the last 20 years. France, just last week, endured its largest wildfire since 1949.

In Spain, the two firefighters who died earlier this week were using brush cutters to create a firebreak when sudden winds trapped them in the flames. One man died within hours, the other after a day in hospital with burns covering 85 per cent of his body. Six more people remain in the hospital with severe burns and injuries.

“It’s obvious that climate change is exacerbating the severity of fires,” said Eduardo Rojas Briales, a forestry researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and former deputy director general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. “But it’s not responsible to wait for greenhouse gas emissions to drop … as the sole approach to addressing the problem.”

Southern Europe is also sweltering under extreme heat that has shattered temperature records. Scientists link these conditions to fossil fuel pollution, which traps heat and dries out vegetation, creating perfect tinderbox conditions. Experts have urged governments to step up preventative measures — from clearing dead vegetation to reversing rural abandonment and using controlled burns to reduce fuel loads.

“There is no alternative but to build landscapes … that are truly resilient to fires,” he said.

A new report by climate risk analysis firm XDI has found that the climate crisis has already doubled the likelihood of infrastructure damage from wildfires in France, Italy, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria since 1990. The risk is set to rise even further in the years ahead.

“We’re all asking ourselves, how much worse can it get?” said Karl Mallon, XDI’s head of science and technology. “According to our latest analysis, a lot.”