ANDALUCIA has launched a new anti-wildfire campaign following a 40% surge in blazes compared with the same period last year, regional authorities have said.
Antonio Sanz Cabello, Andalucia’s minister for emergency management, announced on Monday that the plan would see the deployment of 4,700 firefighters, 108 fire engines, 43 aircraft and a highly specialised firebreak unit — the first of its kind in Spain.
Known as Plan Infoca, the strategy will also increase the budget of the Andalucian Emergency Agency (EMA) by 5% to €270 million.
The plan was unveiled after the EMA responded to 161 wildfires in the first five months of the year, according to figures shared by Sanz, compared with 115 during the same period in 2025.
“We are seeing many more wildfires this year,” Sanz told reporters.
“[Lately], we have been averaging nine or 10 a day.”
The campaign will also include a ban on barbecues and agricultural burns in woodland areas, as well as restrictions on motor vehicle access.
Despite the sharp increase in fires, Sanz insisted Andalucia was becoming faster and more effective at containing them, noting that 455 fewer hectares – roughly the equivalent of 650 football pitches – have burned so far this year compared with the same period in 2025.
“I can assure you that there is no firefighting or emergency response service in Europe that invests as much as we do in Andalucia,” Sanz said.
He added: “We believe that every euro spent on firefighting and emergency services is a euro that saves lives.”
Spain endured its worst wildfire season in more than three decades in 2025, with around 380,000 to 400,000 hectares burned across the country – an area larger than Mallorca.
The crisis escalated dramatically in August, when a prolonged heatwave and widespread droughts fuelled dozens of major blazes across Galicia, Castilla y Leon, Extremadura and other regions.
At least four people died during the wildfire wave, including firefighters and civilians, while tens of thousands of residents were evacuated as flames swept through rural communities and forest land.
More than 40 major fires were active at the height of the emergency.
This year, Spain’s central government has launched its largest-ever wildfire operation, deploying 70 state-owned aircraft, including amphibious planes and helicopters, alongside thousands of emergency responders.
Authorities said they would also rely on satellites and drones to detect and track wildfires more quickly.
The operation will run from June 1 to October 31, when the risk of large wildfires is at its highest.
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