Earth News from TerraDaily.com
Spain taming fire that belched smoke cloud over Madrid
Madrid, July 18 (AFP) Jul 18, 2025
Spanish firefighters on Friday were bringing under control a forest fire near Madrid that had cloaked the capital in a huge cloud of acrid smoke.

The blaze that broke out on Thursday around 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of the city had burned 3,100 hectares (7,660 acres), the Madrid region's leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso wrote on X.

More than 100 firefighters and the Spanish army's emergencies unit were deployed on the ground and in the air to extinguish the flames.

"The fire is now contained," Madrid's emergency services agency said, warning that the wind forecast for Friday "could make the work difficult".

Madrid's civil protection authority advised people to stay indoors on Thursday as the gigantic cloud of orange and grey smoke hung over the city, recommending masks to avoid inhaling ash.

Normality was returning on Friday in the municipalities closest to the fire, with a major motorway reopened and clear skies in Madrid.

Although the cause of the fire is unknown, Spain is experiencing hotter summers stoked by human-induced climate change, which increases the length, frequency and intensity of wildfires.

More than 25,000 hectares have burned so far this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.





Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Chinese researchers craft high fidelity Mars soil simulant to support future missions
Ancient river systems reveal Mars was wetter than we thought
NASA's Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun

24/7 Energy News Coverage
One billion Africans being harmed by cooking pollution
US reaches civil nuclear cooperation accord with Bahrain
American firms flag hit from US export controls targeting China

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
China, India should work towards 'win-win' cooperation: Chinese FM
US delays Patriot arms deliveries to Switzerland in switch to Ukraine
US 'moving at haste' to get Ukraine weapons: envoy

24/7 News Coverage
New deep sea mining rules lack consensus despite US pressure
Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India
From Antarctica to Brussels, hunting climate clues in old ice


ADVERTISEMENT



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.