The new forest fire scenario is more serious. Spain expects fewer wildfires in forests and on mountain slopes. However, the remaining fires are expected to be considerably more severe. This is attributed to climate change and the frequent failure to clear overgrown areas.
The environmental campaigners at Greenpeace support the Spanish experts‘ theory. According to this, barely one per cent of all forest fires last year were responsible for well over half of the total area burnt.
This summer, the largest forest fire in Spanish history broke out around Ávila, west of Madrid. Tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated to safety, and many lost all their possessions. Several European countries are battling the largest fires in their history. And in 2026, the trend that was already emerging last year will continue.
Europe battles record-breaking wildfires
Whilst 190,000 hectares had been burnt in Europe by the summer of 2025, the figure had already risen to 265,000 this year, according to the EU Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). This represented an increase of almost 40 per cent – despite a decline in the number of forest fires.
Two main factors are cited as reasons: more and more people are leaving rural areas. This encourages the uncontrolled spread of forests and scrub. Added to this is global warming, which is causing more severe periods of drought. This results in areas that act like tinder, which greatly facilitate the spread of forest fires.
The Spanish news agency Efe quotes Eduardo Tolosana. The forestry engineer says that the lack of maintenance in rural areas „ultimately leads to an accumulation of fuel“.
Heatwaves fuel forest fires – including in the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands recorded temperatures of over 44 degrees at the start of August. Heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures such as these were seen across Europe. When these areas dry out, this further contributes to conditions that encourage forest fires. Seven out of ten forest fires last year occurred during a heatwave.
According to experts, there is an urgent need to invest in forest fire prevention. This also includes the restoration of agricultural land, which would otherwise turn into a kind of tinder. The cost of fire damage exceeds the amount that subsidies would ever amount to, says Tolosana. Greenpeace confirms this with its calculations. As an added bonus, this would also revitalise the economy in rural areas.
According to Greenpeace, this year’s wildfires have caused damage amounting to as much as 3.8 billion euros. And these figures do not even include the cost of repairing damaged infrastructure. Furthermore, fires are still raging, meaning the damage is set to be considerably greater. Prevention, therefore, at a cost of around one billion euros a year, is actually a profitable venture.
In the Canary Islands, large-scale wildfires have also caused damage running into the millions. When around 14,000 hectares of land on Tenerife were destroyed by fire in the summer of 2023, it was not only the largest wildfire in recent Canarian history. It was also the most costly: experts estimated the costs of reconstruction and the socio-economic losses at at least 177 million euros.
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