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Spain is heading into the peak summer season with a wildfire situation that is already significantly more serious than a year ago, and forecasters are warning that everything will depend on how many heat waves arrive in the weeks ahead.

 

According to the latest data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), part of the EU's Copernicus programme, more than 39,000 hectares of Spanish forest and scrubland have burned so far in 2026, three times the 12,625 hectares recorded during the same period in 2025. The number of fires is equally stark: 254 so far this year, compared to just 76 at the same point last year. Earlier this month, a wildfire near Murcia city forced evacuations as more than 110 hectares burned in a matter of hours, an early sign of what was to come.

 

Federico Grillo, a forestry engineer and head of emergencies for the Gran Canaria Island Council, says the wet spring is part of the explanation. "In years like this, with significant rainfall, much more vegetation grows. This vegetation provides continuous fuel and facilitates the spread of fire. Fires that previously started and stopped in a street, a track, or a cleared orchard now find continuity and are more likely to advance," he said.

 

But it is heat waves, he warns, that are the real game-changer. "They are what change everything, and everything will depend on them. The first heat waves dry out the vegetation, leaving it as if we'd put it in a toaster. The drier it is, the more easily the fire spreads. It's not just the dead grass that dries out; the living vegetation also becomes dehydrated. This contributes to making the fire much more intense."

 

The pattern has been visible across the country in recent weeks, with Spain hit by thirteen wildfires over a single weekend, with crews battling blazes in Murcia, Andalucía and beyond. The major Huelva fire at Villanueva de los Castillejos, which burned more than 5,000 hectares before being brought under control, was one of the most damaging of the season so far.

 

On the causes of ignition, Grillo is equally direct. "We always think fires are started by malicious people, but most of the time it's negligence: people doing things they shouldn't." That includes poorly maintained electrical infrastructure, unattended barbecues and the long-term abandonment of rural land, which allows fuel to accumulate unchecked year after year.

 

The figures already point to a difficult season. The area burned so far is double the average for the period 2006 to 2025, and the week of June 4 to 10 alone saw nearly 6,000 hectares destroyed, four times more than the same week in 2025. A wildfire also broke out this week at La Azohía in Murcia, alarming residents and beachgoers on what is becoming an increasingly familiar sight along Spain's Mediterranean coastline.

 

With the first heat wave of the summer now imminent, Grillo's message to the public is simple: be careful, and do not add to the pressure on emergency services already stretched across the country.