The two large forest fires devastating the bordering provinces of Madrid and Ávila, in the center of Spain, have burned some 25,000 hectares so far, favored by atmospheric conditions, and have forced the evacuation of 73,000 people from numerous municipalities.

[Turkiye to Send Two Aircraft to Spain to Fight Fires: Spain: 73,000 Evacuees and 25,000 Hectares of Forest Burned](https://www.telesurenglish.net/spain-73000-evacuees-and-25000-hectares-of-forest-burned/)

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Saturday that the two uncontrolled and close fires will be managed as a single one, so that the command of the national emergency declared in the area will be unified.

The chief general of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), Francisco Javier Marcos, justified the decision to jointly manage the fires and “gain time” in a critical situation of thousands of burned hectares.

The seriousness of the situation is such that the municipality of Cenicientos, where the single command would be installed, also had to be evacuated and will now be moved to Navalcarnero.

Since Thursday and especially in recent hours, both fires have forced the evacuation of 38,000 people from Ávila and some 35,000 in Madrid, which are added to the thousands who remain confined to their homes.

Remaining forests continue to burn in Spain.

The scale of evacuations is still not comparable to that in neighboring France, where approximately 200,000 people have already been evacuated. However, as the fires approach the capital, Madrid, the number of local residents being… pic.twitter.com/N76XfJS5pm

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The 30,000 new evacuees belong to nine towns in the Tiétar river valley, of great environmental value; seven from Ávila and two from Madrid.

The “great concern” and “absolute priority” at this time is to “save lives and ensure safe evacuations” and so far no relevant personal injuries have been reported, argued the Government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, to the press.

Sánchez visited the affected area and attended the meeting of the State Committee for Coordination and Management of the State Emergency Plan, where he noted that the situation “remains complex” due to the uncertainty about the direction and intensity of the winds, which prevent the fire from being controlled.

So far in 2026, Sánchez pointed out, 130,000 hectares have already been burned by fires in Spain, 5,000 of them today, which is why he insisted on the need for a state pact against the climate emergency.

To date, between 13,000 and 15,000 hectares have been burned in the province of Ávila and close to 10,000 in the province of Madrid, according to provisional data from the Ministry of the Interior, although the regional authorities of Madrid are already talking about 12,000 hectares.

The strong gusts of changing wind, of up to 60 kilometers per hour, have been decisive for this rapid spread of the fire.

Spain requested European aid to deal with the critical situation and will have two planes taking off from Greece and as many from Italy, as well as a Portuguese detachment.

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