Europe’s wildfires this year are already nearing historic levels, according to the continent’s civil protection agency.
The European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism has already been activated 16 times for wildfires in 2025, the same number of times the mechanism was activated for wildfires during all of 2024. The activation allows other nations within the continent to offer personnel and equipment to the affected nation.
The most noteworthy activation happened on Wednesday, when Spain requested wildfire response reinforcements for the first time in the nation’s history, the EU agency said. In response to Spain’s activation, the European Commission has mobilized two rescEU planes stationed in France, with the expectation of deploying to Spain on Thursday.
Spain is under a high temperature alert through to Monday, with the nation’s General Directorate of Civil Protection expecting possible “extraordinary” winds from the Cantabrian Sea, heightening the risk of wildfire spread.
Credit: General Directorate of Civil Protection
“More than 5,000 State Security Forces personnel are collaborating in extinguishing the fires, ensuring evacuations and confinement, controlling traffic on blocked roads, and investigating the cause of the fires,” the directorate said in a recent press release. “The committee’s objective in this situation is to continue providing a coordinated response, optimally allocate state resources, and respond quickly to the emergency.”
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Numerous other nations have also activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, including:
- Greece, which activated the mechanism on Aug. 12 and received reinforcements from Sweden, Czechia, Moldova, and Romania.
- Bulgaria received aircraft support from Czechia, Slovakia, France, Hungary, Romania, and Sweden after it activated the mechanism.
- Albania got aircraft support from Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Czechia, and Slovakia.
- Montenegro got aircraft from Czechia, Croatia, Italy, Serbia, Hungary, Bosnia, and Herzegovina.