• A wildfire in Spain's Guadalajara province has destroyed around 32,000 hectares of land, making it one of the largest blazes in the country's recent history.
• Emergency crews are cautiously optimistic that the fire could be brought under control in the coming days, despite stronger winds forecasted for Thursday.
• Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for a cross-party "state pact against the climate emergency," emphasizing the need for efforts to tackle the climate crisis to rise above party-political disputes.

A wildfire that has been burning for nearly a week in Spain's Guadalajara province has destroyed around 32,000 hectares of land, making it one of the largest blazes in the country's recent history, authorities said.

Emergency crews expressed cautious optimism that the fire north-east of Madrid could be brought under control in the coming days despite stronger winds forecast for Thursday.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Emiliano García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, met emergency commanders on Wednesday to discuss the wildfire.

García-Page later told reporters there were grounds for "cautious optimism," saying progress in the firefighting operation offered hope that the situation could soon be stabilized.

Residents of five previously evacuated communities were allowed to return home due to the improved situation.

Authorities also said residents of La Mierla, where the fire began around 70 kilometres north-east of Madrid, could possibly be allowed to return home in the coming hours.

A total of 34 communities have been evacuated and around 1,200 people taken to safety since the blaze broke out last Thursday.

Initial findings indicate the fire was probably sparked by agricultural work.

With an estimated 32,000 hectares burned - an area equivalent to around 45,000 football pitches - it has become Spain's second-largest wildfire since the central government began keeping records in 1968.

Only the Larouco fire in 2025 was larger, burning almost 38,000 hectares across Galicia and Castilla y León in north-western Spain.

Around 600 emergency personnel, including firefighters, civil protection teams and members of the military emergency unit UME, were continuing efforts to bring the blaze under control in Guadalajara.

They were being supported by nearly 30 firefighting aircraft and helicopters, according to officials.

During his visit, Sánchez called for a cross-party "state pact against the climate emergency," saying scientific evidence left no doubt that climate change was costing lives.

He said efforts to tackle the climate crisis must rise above party-political disputes and pledged further government support and financial aid to help affected communities rebuild.

Spain continues to grapple with an exceptionally severe wildfire season. Around 123,000 hectares has burned across the country since the beginning of the year, according to data from the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation programme, nearly three times as much as during the same period last year.