The wildfires in Europe are taking on catastrophic proportions after the situation in Spain and Scotland deteriorated sharply over the past 24 hours. At 5:27 a.m. Bulgarian time on July 26, 2026, the Spanish authorities extended the scope of the state of emergency to include the historic province of Toledo. At the same time, in the United Kingdom, the Scottish government officially requested urgent military assistance from London to control an apocalyptic fire in the Cairngorms National Park.
Spain also declared a state of emergency in Toledo
The forest fires in central Spain are now out of control. After the country's first-ever national state of emergency was declared earlier this week due to wildfires in the regions of Madrid and Ávila, the disaster measures were extended to the province of Toledo on Sunday night.
Strong winds and temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius have led to the merging of several large fire fronts. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska warned that weather conditions remain extremely severe and are pushing the fire south. According to figures published by the Reuters news agency (reuters.com), more than 60,000 people have already been evacuated in the affected central regions, and at least eight municipalities near Toledo were ordered to immediately leave their homes late on Saturday. The state of emergency transfers command entirely to the Spanish Armed Forces' Military Emergency Unit (UME).
Scotland calls in army to fight Cairngorms fire
To the north, Scotland is battling an unprecedented wildfire in the heart of the Cairngorms, which has been burning for the 11th day. First Minister John Sweeney has called an emergency meeting of the Resilience Room (the government's crisis management team) and has sent a formal request to the UK government for military assistance (MACA).
As reported by the British media outlet BBC (bbc.com), Scottish authorities are demanding the immediate deployment of military helicopters for water-jetting operations, as the terrain in the Cairngorms is extremely difficult for ground teams to access. On Friday evening, police declared a “critical incident” and ordered a full precautionary evacuation of the village of Netty Bridge due to a sudden change in wind direction. Although the threat to the village temporarily decreased on Saturday evening and some of the more than 500 residents were allowed to return, Sweeney stressed that the situation remains “dynamic, serious and unpredictable“.
The climate crisis in action
European Commissioner for Crisis Management Hajja Labib warned international media, including Deutsche Welle (dw.com), that this year's fire season in Europe has started unusually early and there is a real risk of breaking all historical records for the area burned. So far, more than 130,000 hectares of land have burned in Spain alone in 2026.