Sawt Falasteen - Worst wildfire in Madrid's history forces thousands to flee homes

Strong winds and scorching temperatures hampered efforts to contain the flames, which had destroyed dozens of homes and forced the closure of several roads, officials said.

Two separate wind-fuelled wildfires had combined to become one huge blaze on Friday, which was close to merging with yet another in the neighbouring Castilla y Leon region, they added.

"The smoke was incredibly thick. You couldn't breathe," Jose Cobos, who fled his home with his wife and three dogs, told private broadcaster Antena 3.

Spanish authorities on Friday ordered the evacuation of 7,000 more people from two new localities west of Madrid threatened by wildfires.

Emergency messages were sent to the phones of people in the two villages affected. The evacuations come on top of 19,000 people in the Madrid region already told to leave their villages or remain in their homes with windows and doors sealed because of the fires.

Spain's Guardia Civil police force said they had arrested a man for allegedly setting off the fire in the Madrid region by using a farm vehicle despite a ban in the tinderbox conditions.

Another person is under investigation for the same incident.

Carlos Novillo, the Madrid regional government's emergency management chief, said weather conditions were "expected to improve" overnight, with cooler temperatures and higher humidity forecast for Saturday.

The head of the regional government of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said it was the worst wildfire in the region's history.

"The situation is completely unusual and catastrophic," she said, adding that the priority was "to save lives".

The blaze has so far burned around 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) in the Madrid region, an area with a high concentration of homes.

-'Dramatic situation' -

Spain's government declared a national emergency in the Madrid region and neighbouring Avila province late Thursday, allowing additional resources to be deployed more quickly and placing the Military Emergency Unit (UME) in charge of coordinating the response.

An AFP video journalist recorded people fleeing by road near Chapineria, some 30 kilometres from Madrid, including some on foot leading their horses and ponies.

Elsewhere, television images showed Guardia Civil police officers wearing face masks helping elderly residents in wheelchairs board buses as care homes were evacuated.

Hundreds of elderly people and people with disabilities from five care homes were among the evacuated, the regional government of Madrid said in a statement.

The largest evacuation operation took place in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, with most of the 178 residents at the private Lopez Rumayor care home evacuated to the municipal sports hall.

Spain has seen a series of blazes in recent days as a heatwave and dry conditions have heightened the risk of fast-moving fires, particularly in scrubland areas where dry vegetation has fuelled the flames.

The country's largest active wildfire is burning in the province of Guadalajara, around 100 kilometres north of Madrid, where it has scorched about 32,000 hectares over the past week.

Spain recorded its worst wildfire season in recent history in 2025, when more than 393,000 hectares were destroyed by fire, according to EFFIS.

N.AbuHussein--SF-PST