Firefighters in Spain have spent a week battling wildfires that have swept across the countryside, forcing more than 70,000 people to evacuate their homes and prompting warnings of further danger as a new heatwave approaches. Three fires in the Madrid region are of particular concern, with regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso calling it "the biggest natural catastrophe in the history of Spain" and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declaring the affected areas disaster zones while warning of "highly challenging" days ahead.

In the Madrid region alone, more than 56,500 people have been evacuated and a further 27,797 told to stay indoors, with additional evacuations in Ávila, Toledo and Valencia; four municipalities remain under lockdown and 12 more have been evacuated. Temperatures are expected to approach 40C from Wednesday, with Spain's meteorological agency Aemet warning that fire danger will rise to "extreme levels", though officials including Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Ayuso say the situation is improving gradually, with some residents potentially able to return home soon. Sánchez used the crisis to urge regional governments to unite against climate change denial, describing the climate emergency as worsening "year after year".