UK tourists have been issued a holiday warning for Spain as the wildfire season approaches. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presented what he called Spain's biggest-ever campaign against forest fires last week.
Record Heat and Wildfires in 2025
Spain experienced its hottest summer on record in 2025, when almost 4,000 square kilometres of land went up in smoke, the highest figure registered by the European Forest Fire Information System.
"We will put in place all the resources" available to the government "to mitigate this emergency situation as much as possible and to prevent it happening again on this scale," Sánchez said at the Torrejón airbase outside Madrid.
He described the preparations as "the state's largest deployment for an anti-fires campaign... because we are also aware that, unfortunately, this threat is growing."
"This battle...is won together with unity, with institutional loyalty, and not with confrontation," Sánchez said. "Fire does not distinguish between administrations, it does not ask who governs," the Socialist leader added, reiterating a plea for "a national pact against the climate emergency."
Risk to UK Tourists
A BBC expert told Morning Live last year that UK tourists risk being impacted in July and August in particular, because this is peak wildfire season.
The Foreign Office warns: "Wildfires happen often in Spain, including on the islands, during the summer months. Be aware of your environment when visiting or driving through woodland areas."
Wider Regional Threat
World Weather Attribution warns Spain is not the only one at risk. Weather conditions leading to deadly wildfires in Türkiye, Cyprus and Greece made 10 times more likely due to climate change.
In July 2025, Greece, Türkiye and Cyprus experienced one of the most devastating months of wildfires in recent years, fueled in Greece by a record heatwave above 45C, drought, and strong winds (IFRC, 2025).
After a sweltering end to May, it is feared further fires lie ahead for the European Union.
