Record Wildfires Ravage Spain and Portugal Amid Climate Crisis

Wed Oct 22 2025 07:41:19 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The EU faces its worst wildfire season on record, as unprecedented fires devastate northern areas of Spain and Portugal, exacerbated by climate change.

Wildfires have scorched over one million hectares across the European Union this year, marking it as the worst wildfire season since 2006. Spain and Portugal have been particularly affected, with experts attributing the severity of the fires to climate change, which has increased the frequency and intensity of such devastating events.

Record Wildfires Ravage Spain and Portugal Amid Climate Crisis

A record one million hectares—equivalent to about half the land area of Wales—have burned across the European Union so far this year, making it the worst wildfire season since records began in 2006.

Spain and Portugal have been hit especially hard, with roughly 1% of the entire Iberian Peninsula scorched, according to EU scientists.

The worsening fire season in the Mediterranean has been linked directly to climate change in a separate study by the World Weather Attribution group at Imperial College London. Experts warn that more frequent and severe fires across Europe are likely to continue in the future.

In Spain, over 400,000 hectares have burned since the beginning of this year, which is more than six times the average for this period from 2006 to 2024. Portugal has also recorded 270,000 hectares burned, nearly five times the average for the same time.

The combined burn area of 684,000 hectares across the Iberian Peninsula is four times the area of Greater London, with the majority of the destruction occurring in just two weeks.

Smoke from these wildfires has also decreased air quality significantly, affecting regions as far as France and the UK. Fires concentrated in forested areas have triggered significant deployment of firefighting resources under the EU’s civil protection mechanism.

As climate change drives more extreme weather conditions, researchers warn that this will only perpetuate the cycle of wildfires. The losses not only include the trees and wildlife affected but also added carbon dioxide emissions that exacerbate the greenhouse effect.