Wildfires raging across Spain and France this summer have prompted Spain to declare a national emergency in Madrid and Ávila, with prime minister Pedro Sánchez calling it a "dramatic situation" affecting several provinces and neighbouring countries. The scale of destruction, combined with extreme heat and dry conditions linked to climate change, has pushed researchers and firefighting agencies to develop new technologies aimed at preventing, detecting and containing blazes more effectively than traditional methods.

Together, Spain and France have seen over 741,000 acres burn, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, with Spain's fire season already double its annual average and France's six times worse than normal. Among the innovations being developed or tested in Spain are Ecofire, a biodegradable liquid up to 40 times more effective than water at extinguishing fires; Predifire, an AI-and-drone early-warning system for detecting outbreaks while still small; SenForFire, a network of low-cost smart sensors monitoring gases and weather conditions; and a Wildfire Assessment Model using neural networks and satellite imagery to predict fire spread and resource needs. The public can also use tools such as Spain's Civil Protection app and a Google Maps emergency layer to stay informed.