The hectares affected by the Niebla (Huelva) fire have doubled compared to yesterday and amount to 8,000, although not all are burned, according to the Minister of the Presidency, Health and Emergencies of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz.
Read more Netanyahu rejects Trump’s plan for Gaza accepted by Hamas
In statements to the media, Sanz explained that the brigades plan to resort again to the use of technical fire to stop the advance of the flames and definitively consolidate a perimeter estimated at 44 kilometers affecting a total of six municipalities.
The minister emphasized clarifying the figure of the affected area and specified that the 8,000 hectares counted correspond to the total perimeter covered by the fire and not to the surface actually burned.
According to him, there are numerous “vegetated islands” inside the perimeter that have remained intact thanks to the containment by the deployed forces.
It is expected that the precise measurements from the European satellite system Copernicus will substantially reduce the final figure of burned vegetation, on a day when the night and day consolidation efforts are decisive to fully stabilize the affected area.
The minister appeared before the media after meeting at the Advanced Command Post (PMA) with the third vice president and Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, who, for her part, framed the Niebla fire in a national context “complicated throughout the territory in terms of fires,” such as the start of the year marked by the train of storms or the dana in Valencia.
Read more Award for techno-authoritarianism
According to data from the European Copernicus tool shared by the minister, Spain records “practically almost 200,000 hectares affected since the beginning of the year.”
An alarming figure that “is practically six times more than what we had in 2025,” said Aagesen, who pointed out that the country already counts “40 large forest fires this year 2026, when last year at this time we had 15.”
“We are living an extraordinary situation that deserves joint work and a maximum spirit of collaboration. I convey the importance of working united all administrations in a country pact against a climate emergency that we know is hitting harder and harder,” she said.
After meeting with mayors of the region, Aagesen stressed that, while the urgent priority is to extinguish the flames and guarantee a safe return to homes, the central government will maintain its support in the reconstruction process.
In this regard, she formalized the Ministry’s commitment to “cover 50% of the cost of hydrological-forestry restoration” of the burned area, committing to coordinate the work with regional technicians as soon as the fire is extinguished.
Read more Tajani says that Spain’s decision to suspend Schengen is «unacceptable and incomprehensible»
