Spain and France battle some of the most extensive forest fires in decades

Spain and France recorded some of their most extensive forest fires in decades during July 2026. Spain faced the largest fire in its observation history, while France documented the first appearance of a pyrocumulonimbus—a rare cloud generated by the energy of an active blaze. Damage in Spain and France The most destructive fire occurred in the Spanish province of Avila. Official data indicates that the fire destroyed approximately 50,000 hectares. When including neighboring hotspots, total burned areas reached 77,000 hectares, a scale comparable to the area of New York City. Landsat 9 satellite imagery from July 29 confirmed extensive landscape damage around Burgohondo, where residential homes and tourist infrastructure near reservoirs were destroyed. In France, the situation was most severe in the Gironde department. One of the decade's largest fires consumed more than 42,000 hectares, forcing mass evacuations and resulting in the destruction of the village of Le Porge. Total burned land across France exceeded 90,000 hectares, marking one of the worst periods in many years.