Spain's largest wildfire of the year burns for a fifth day as new heatwave looms

MADRID, July 20 - A wildfire raged out of control across Spain's central Guadalajara province on Monday, burning for a fifth day and becoming the largest blaze of the year, as forecasters warned an approaching heatwave would raise fire risks across much of the country.

Spain and southern Europe are facing increasingly severe wildfire seasons, a trend scientists have linked to climate change.

The fire comes less than two weeks after a wildfire near Bedar, in Almeria province, killed 13 people - one of Spain's deadliest blazes in decades.

Authorities evacuated three additional municipalities on Monday as the La Mierla wildfire in Guadalajara province expanded to more than 26,000 hectares. More than 1,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes.

Regional leader Emiliano Garcia-Page said nearly 30 population centres were surrounded by the blaze, underscoring the challenge facing firefighters. Protecting lives and preventing the fire from reaching homes and urban areas remained the top priority, he said.

Spain's weather agency AEMET said the heatwave, the third of 2026, was expected to last at least until Thursday, bringing temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across much of the southeastern interior and pushing wildfire danger to extreme levels.

Some areas could reach 42 to 44 C by Thursday as hot, dry air moves north from Africa. The agency also warned of possible dry thunderstorms in mountainous areas of eastern Spain.

Spain is already the European Union's most fire-affected country this year. According to the EU's Copernicus wildfire monitoring service, 104,423 hectares had burned across Spain in 2026, compared with 41,781 hectares in France.

The blaze is unfolding after an exceptionally destructive fire season last summer, when Spain recorded 354,747 hectares burned and 63 large wildfires, the highest annual burned area of the past decade. REUTERS