Spain Dead in forest fire near Madrid
A man has died in a forest fire north of Madrid.
12.08.2025, 18:38
SDA
The 50-year-old was found on Monday evening with severe burns in a house in the Tres Cantos settlement, reported the state TV station RTVE. He had suffered burns to 98 percent of his skin and died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Videos showed firefighters battling flames in front gardens and on the streets between houses in Tres Cantos, with flames leaping from hedges, bushes, trees and buildings everywhere. The extreme heat in large parts of the country, with maximum temperatures well over 40 degrees, is drying out the vegetation. What's more, there was hardly any rain in the summer.
Everyone out of the house, don't take anything with you!
According to a fire department spokesperson, the fire had spread "explosively" towards three settlements in the evening. "The flames advanced six kilometers in barely 40 minutes," he said on television.
Residents from the settlement of Soto de Viñuelas reported that the police had called on people to flee immediately over loudspeakers. "Everyone out, everyone out of the house! Don't take anything, don't pack your bags, just get out!" a couple told the newspaper "El País". A total of 180 people were evacuated.
While the fire north of Madrid has now been brought under control, emergency services continued to battle fires in León, Zamora, Ourense and Cádiz, where more than 2,000 people had to be evacuated to safety on Monday near the vacation resort of Tarifa in southern Spain, which is also popular with tourists. Some of them were able to return to their homes on Tuesday, according to the administration of the province of Cádiz.
Fires also continue in the northwest of Spain
In the province of León in the northwest, more than 3,000 people had to be evacuated due to forest fires, as reported by the newspaper "El Diario". The fires have not yet all been brought under control.
