MADRID, (Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2026) The worst wildfire in the Madrid region's history raged west of the Spanish capital on Friday, with around 40,000 people evacuated or ordered to remain indoors, AFP reported.
Strong winds and scorching temperatures hampered efforts to contain the flames, which had destroyed dozens of homes and forced the closure of several roads, officials said.
Forecast winds are expected to ease somewhat overnight, which should improve firefighting conditions, but was unlikely to be enough to bring the wildfire under control given its size, they added.
"The wildfire is at its peak and is currently beyond the capacity of firefighters to contain," Carlos Novillo, the Madrid regional government's emergency management chief, told reporters.
Two separate wind-fuelled wildfires had combined to become one huge blaze on Friday, which was close to merging with yet another in the neighbouring Castilla y Leon region, they added.
Spanish authorities on Friday ordered the evacuation of 7,000 more people from two new localities west of Madrid threatened by wildfires.
Emergency messages were sent to the phones of people in the two villages affected.
The evacuations come on top of 19,000 people in the Madrid region already told to leave their villages or remain indoors with windows and doors sealed.
Traffic built up on the narrow roads near Zarzalejo, a village of about 2,000 residents, as people evacuated with cars carrying families and whatever possessions they had managed to gather, according to AFP reporter at the scene.
Spain's government declared a national emergency in the Madrid region and neighbouring Avila province late Thursday, allowing additional resources to be deployed more quickly and placing the Military Emergency Unit (UME) in charge of coordinating the response.
