EU Faces Historical Wildfire Crisis: Spain and Portugal in Flames

Tue Sep 30 2025 04:54:07 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The worst wildfire season in the EU on record sees over one million hectares scorched, with climate change linked to the alarming trend.

This year, wildfires have devastated more than one million hectares across the EU, marking unprecedented destruction, primarily in Spain and Portugal. Climate change is directly linked to this crisis, severely impacting air quality and endangering ecosystems. Experts warn this trend could continue, urging immediate action on climate change and natural resource management.

EU Faces Historical Wildfire Crisis: Spain and Portugal in Flames

A record one million hectares—about half the size of Wales— have burned across the European Union this year, marking the worst wildfire season on record since data collection began in 2006.

Spain and Portugal are experiencing catastrophic damage, with approximately 1% of the Iberian Peninsula scorched, according to EU scientists. The Mediterranean region's worsening fire seasons have been directly tied to climate change as indicated by a new study from the World Weather Attribution group at Imperial College London.

Experts predict that Europe will continue to face more severe wildfire seasons, a dire warning that calls for urgent climate action and improved environmental management practices.

Currently, over two-thirds of the burned area in the EU is concentrated in Spain and Portugal. Within Spain alone, more than 400,000 hectares have already burned this year, which is more than six times the average burns for this period from 2006 to 2024.

Portugal has reported its own alarming figures, with over 270,000 hectares affected—nearly five times the yearly average for the same period. The twin catastrophes on the Iberian Peninsula amount to an extensive 684,000 hectares—a vast area, primarily consumed within just two weeks.

Fires have particularly ravaged forested areas in northern Portugal and Spain’s north-western regions of Galicia, Asturias, and Castile and León. The fires have severely impacted previously protected natural regions, including the Picos de Europa National Park and major routes along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, traditionally bustling with tourism in the summer months.

In response to the crisis, the EU has activated the largest deployment of its civil protection mechanism to combat the flames. Smoke from the fires has drastically diminished air quality across the region, with reports confirming that southerly winds have carried smoke to as far as France and the UK.

Climate change is intensifying the conditions that enable wildfires; in a damaging cycle, these fires generate more greenhouse gases, significantly enhancing global warming. Recent studies report that emissions from wildfires in Spain alone have reached an alarming 17.68 million tonnes of CO2—a figure that surpasses the total emissions recorded from wildfires in the country since 2003.

As these catastrophic events underline the urgent need for embracing climate solutions, stricter management of forested areas, avoiding excess vegetation, preventing ignitions, and improving fire detection technologies are pivotal in mitigating future fire threats.

Collaboration at all levels, from local communities to international bodies, is critical to develop effective strategies that not only put out the fires but diminish their frequency and intensity through proactive climate action.