Fickle winds whip up huge wildfire in Spain

MADRID - Firefighters battling a huge wildfire in northeastern Spain prepared for another challenging night on July 17 as “crazy” winds were expected to fan flames that have razed almost 14,000 hectares.

The blaze has sparked alarm and continued to grow since starting in a rural part of the Aragon region on July 15, a week after the country’s deadliest such disaster in recent history.

More than 400 firefighters backed by army reinforcements have been deployed and a handful of small villages evacuated.

“What worries us most is the wind, which is changing a lot. We have an absolutely crazy wind during the next 24 hours,” said Roberto Bermudez de Castro, a senior member of the regional government.

This “warm and dry wind” would rekindle parts of the fire that had died down and that could take the attention of the overnight firefighting operation, he said.

The lowest yellow warning for heat was in place for Aragon on July 18, with temperatures predicted to peak at 36 deg C.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the length, intensity and frequency of extreme heat, which creates favourable conditions for the spread of wildfires and complicates firefighting efforts.

Emergency services shared aerial images of the wildfire eating away at expanses of forests and fields.

Fire engines were confronted with a tall wall of flames that had engulfed the vegetation.

Regional leader Jorge Azcon said on X that King Felipe VI had called him to “enquire about the evolution of the fire” and “send encouragement to the entire firefighting team”.

In the central province of Guadalajara, a growing wildfire that began on July 16 forced authorities to evacuate 11 villages and deploy more than 350 firefighters.

The blaze had devoured more than 2,000 hectares and entered the mountainous Sierra Norte natural park, a protected space that is home to threatened eagle, wolf and butterfly species.

Spain is still reeling from last week’s fire in the southern Andalusia region that killed 13 people – including seven Britons and an American – and destroyed 7,000 hectares.

Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares of land in Spain in 2025, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System. AFP