The emergency services They continue to be deployed in different parts of Spain to face one of the most complicated fire campaigns of the year. He fire declared in La Mierla (Guadalajara) continues to concentrate a large part of the operation, while other fires recorded in recent days are evolving favorably thanks to the work of the extinguishing teams. The heat wave and extreme weather conditions maintain a high risk of new fires and possible reactivations.
The seriousness of the situation is also reflected in the national balance. Spain has already surpassed 60,000 hectares burned so far in 2026almost triple that of the same dates last year, according to the latest data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco).
Map of fires in Spain
To offer a still photograph of the current danger, the map crosses the information from the official bulletins of the autonomous communities with the satellite thermal detection systems. A technological integration that allows tracking, practically in real time, what Fires are still active and where are the flames moving?.
In the midst of a high risk forest fire campaign and with the heat expected for the coming days, this map helps to consult in real time at a glance the main active fires in Spain and their distribution over the territory.
What types of forest fires exist in Spain?
Not all forest fires obey the same rules or are fought with the same strategy. The General Forest Fire Statistics (EGIF), under the criteria of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, classifies them based on three variables that will determine its danger. The first of them is the affected plant layer. These are soil or subsoil fires, which advance latently. devouring roots and organic matter. On the other hand, there are surface ones that are the most common and consume the bush and grass. Lastly, there are the destructive cup fireswhich climb to the top of the tree mass, spreading at high speed spurred by the wind.
The extension of the charred land It is the second critical factor and the one that measures the severity of the emergency for civil protection services. Technicians talk about attempt when the brigades manage to stop the fire before it devours a single hectare. Once this threshold is exceeded, the emergency is properly classified as forest fire if it affects a surface of between one and 500 hectares. For it to become a Great Forest Fire (GIF), this barrier must be broken, forcing the activation of extraordinary protocols and state resources.
Finally, the physics and behavior of fire define the extinction strategy on the ground. The operations differentiate between topographic firesof wind either convectivewhere the extreme accumulation of dry biomass generates a column of heat so intense that it dominates the advance of the flames. It is in this last scenario that the lethal sixth generation fires fit. These are fires of unprecedented virulence, fueled by climate change, which are capable of modifying the atmosphere around them and creating firestorms that escape any control capacity.