Prime minister Pedro Sánchez has pledged government support for rebuilding the area and renewed his call for a cross-party pact on the climate emergency during a visit to the command post
Añádenos en Google PM Sánchez, left, is greeted by García-Page on Wednesday. (EP)J. M. L.
22/07/2026 Actualizado a las 16:47h.A wildfire burning in the Sierra Norte of Guadalajara has shown its first clear signs of easing, after destroying around 32,000 hectares over the past week.
The blaze continues to spread, but officials say it is advancing only very slowly and is expected to come under control soon. It has destroyed large areas of environmentally valuable land, including part of a protected natural park.
On Wednesday, authorities allowed residents of six of the 34 evacuated villages to return home and have begun planning the long-term recovery of the affected area.
"We're clearly entering a phase of stabilisation and cautious optimism, although we still need to remain vigilant because strong winds are forecast," said Emiliano García-Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha.
He was speaking after attending a meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Centre (CECOPI), the multi-agency body coordinating the emergency response, at the advanced command post in Tamajón.
"We're now getting ahead of this complex fire, which has a perimeter of 120 kilometres, and we're tackling it with greater confidence of success," he added.
He also highlighted that no lives had been lost and that none of the roughly 40 villages in the area had suffered structural damage.
PM pledges support
Prime minister Pedro Sánchez also attended the CECOPI meeting in Tamajón on Wednesday. His government has pledged to work alongside the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha on a recovery plan to revive agriculture, livestock farming and tourism in the affected area.
Sánchez said the government "will be there for the recovery of this area" and renewed his call for a "major state pact on the climate emergency."
"We can't keep questioning the climate emergency. Science is telling us the world's facing an extreme climate situation and this state pact is an imperative," he said.
The prime minister noted that Spain has already recorded 22 major forest fires this year, destroying around 100,000 hectares. That matches the country's annual average for the past decade, despite it still only being July.
"We can't just think about wildfires once they've started. We need to act beforehand, raising public awareness about climate change," he added.
Sánchez also thanked the media publicly "for reporting these fires using real data instead of the misinformation circulating on social media that's intended to generate hatred and distrust towards public institutions."
Widespread damage
García-Page added that Castilla-La Mancha would ask the central government to officially declare the area a 'disaster zone'. The declaration would unlock financial assistance to restore the natural environment and repair damaged infrastructure, including village water supply wells.
The fire has damaged many of those wells, meaning some communities will temporarily rely on water tankers. Electricity has now been restored across the area, while telephone services are working again in most municipalities.
Nearly 1,000 personnel from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and emergency services from Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, La Rioja, Andalucía, the Madrid region and the Valencian Community remain involved in tackling the blaze. At one point, the fire seriously threatened a wildfire response base, after flames jumped a 40-metre-wide firebreak.
The wildfire has also left livestock in evacuated villages without grazing land. In response, the Guadalajara provincial council has delivered more than 30 tonnes of animal feed to affected farms, where livestock had gone several days without food. A dedicated telephone line (681 01 29 57) has also been set up for farmers in the Sierra Norte to report incidents.