Spain, which has experienced a record-breaking heat wave lasting 16 days resulting in more than 1,100 deaths, is suffering from its worst wildfire damage in 19 years. More than 380,000 hectares of land have turned to ashes, and fatalities continue to rise. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez noted that "the climate emergency is becoming increasingly severe each year" and urged for bipartisan national measures, but the opposition has raised the issue of the 'prime minister's responsibility,' turning it into a political fight.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) on the 19th (local time), at least four people have died from wildfires that have occurred across Spain this year, burning over 382,000 hectares. This is the largest area since statistics began to be compiled in 2006. More than twice the area of Greater London has been burned at once. The Carlos III Health Institute of Spain estimated that there were 1,149 excess deaths related to the heat wave from the 3rd to the 18th.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited southwestern Extremadura, one of the regions most severely affected by the wildfires, and said, "This wildfire is clear evidence that the climate emergency is hitting Spain harder each year." He stated, "The climate emergency is deteriorating far more than scientific predictions" and emphasized that "we need to recalibrate and reassess our response and prevention capabilities."
Prime Minister Sánchez suggested that a bipartisan "state pact" transcending political parties should be implemented to respond to the climate crisis. He said, "The climate emergency policy must be transformed into a national policy that binds all institutions," and announced that he would present a specific plan in early next month.
However, the main opposition party, the People's Party (PP), immediately rebuffed the proposal. The People's Party criticized that Sánchez's proposal was merely a "smoke screen" to avoid criticism for the failure to respond to the crisis. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the People's Party, asserted, "What Sánchez needs to do is send help, not delay responses and deal with things impulsively," claiming that the government has not invested sufficiently in prevention and has ignored requests to deploy military forces.
Due to this wildfire, high-speed train operations connecting northwestern Galicia and the capital Madrid have been suspended. Evacuation orders have been issued for dozens of villages. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported that it had arrested 32 people on arson charges since June and is conducting further investigations into 93 cases.
The flames are spreading across the Iberian Peninsula. In neighboring Portugal, two people have died and 235,000 hectares have burned. Satellite images released by NASA captured massive plumes of smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal covering the entire Iberian Peninsula and reaching France, the UK, and Scandinavia. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service analyzed that carbon emissions from the wildfires in Spain have reached an all-time high.