Largest evacuation ever launched; Scale of the disaster surpasses all previous records

Some of them have been away from their homes for more than 100 hours, after the first evacuation orders were issued last Thursday.

The largest number of displaced people is in the province of Madrid, where 31,865 residents have been evacuated, followed by Ávila with 25,087, Castellón with around 10,000, and Toledo with 6,200 people.

Authorities said that the scale of this evacuation surpasses previous cases linked to major natural disasters in Spain.

During the 2011 earthquake in Lorca, around 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes, while approximately 7,800 residents were evacuated following the volcanic eruption on La Palma in 2021.

The evacuation operation is being coordinated by Spain's Ministry of the Interior, which declared a national emergency on Thursday and took over coordination of measures to protect the population.

The situation is being further complicated by a new heatwave expected from Wednesday through Sunday.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that high temperatures will be a "decisive factor" in the further development of the wildfires and urged citizens to exercise caution.

According to the latest data, wildfires have so far affected around 85,500 hectares of land — approximately 50,000 hectares in Ávila, 25,000 in Madrid, 8,500 in Castellón, and 2,000 in Toledo.

The largest fire has been recorded in Ávila, where the blaze that broke out near Burgohondo has been declared the biggest in the province's history.

Particular concern is also being raised by the fires in Madrid and Castellón, where the flames are spreading in densely populated areas.

Authorities say one of the biggest challenges is the inability to assist all residents who have chosen to remain in their homes despite evacuation orders, due to the limited capacity of emergency services.