Spain is on high alert due to fears of fires caused by carelessness during the eclipse observation. Destructive fires that have devastated thousands of hectares in Avila and Madrid have overshadowed the festive scenario planned for the eclipse observation. Municipalities and autonomous communities are preparing for an increased risk of fires on Wednesday, when millions of people will head to the mountains, gather on mountain ridges or go to viewing platforms to observe the total solar eclipse.
Most of Spain will be at a very high or extreme level of fire risk, according to the index of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). Rural areas will become ideal places to observe the astronomical event around 20:30. People’s behavior will be decisive for safety for many kilometers around. The Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, last week called for “caution”, emphasizing: “The vegetation is extremely dry, and a small spark or carelessness can cause forest fires with devastating consequences for people, ecosystems and natural heritage”. Aemet decided to publish a special daily report up to this date due to the particularity of the day.
Emergency measures and canceled events
The high risk justifies unprecedented measures: since the beginning of the year, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) has recorded 391 fires and 222,783 hectares of burned areas in Spain — an area slightly larger than the size of Gipuzkoa. Communities that will attract the most visitors have banned access to protected areas and forest roads, and some have even introduced emergency measures to prevent tragedies. It is not just about banning barbecues or fireworks, but also about banning parking near dry vegetation, the need to extinguish cigarette butts and the requirement not to stop on the shoulders and not to block access for emergency services.
In this context, Aragon has introduced urgent measures from 10 to 13 August. Among them are the ban on going up the mountains by car, lighting fires or using pyrotechnics. Fines from 1,000 to 100,000 euros are provided for violations. In addition, any gatherings or parties held without the appropriate permit on these dates will be classified as “prohibited events”. The government delegation in Galicia published a list of 29 places closed to visitors, including Monte-da-Gía in Vigo and the Tower of Hercules in La Coruña. Castilla y León has marked non-recommended zones on the map and urges not to go to areas that are part of the Network of Natural Protected Areas (RANP). The authorities warn against driving on unpaved or single-lane roads due to the risk of getting stuck, and also prohibit parking on roads, rural paths and forest roads. Camping outside designated areas is prohibited. The Valencian Community has introduced a third level of pre-emergency readiness throughout the territory, which restricts the lighting of any kind of fire in forest areas or near them and suspends permits for sports activities in these zones. The autonomy announced forest aviation flights and will have 26 air assets on standby. Natural parks will be closed.
Various events are being canceled to avoid risks. The municipality of Tres Cantos in Madrid decided to suspend planned events. “This year we are in a very exceptional situation”, emphasizes Elisa Lidia Miguel, who is acting as mayor during his vacation. “Given the tragic circumstances of the fires devastating the Community of Madrid, we believed it was best to cancel events that require technical support, machinery or generators capable of causing a spark”, she explains. Therefore, people will be able to come on foot to see the eclipse, but there will be no live music, food trucks or workshops. Vehicle access to the Valdelosielos estate will be prohibited to protect areas such as El Pardo mountain. “We ask to be cautious”, emphasizes Miguel. Groups of residents of Sierra Norte, a region of the community where the phenomenon will be fully visible, are pressing the authorities to cancel all events and present an emergency action plan.
Due to these same concerns, mass events that had already received permits were canceled. The Iberia Eclipse festival in Soria, which was to feature 200 electronic music artists and for which almost 1,500 tickets had already been sold, lost its permit two weeks before the event. The municipality of Vinuesa revoked the permit due to environmental recommendations and the impact of a motorcycle festival held a few weeks earlier, during which one person died in an accident. A few days after this decision, a fire occurred in the area, confirming the validity of these warnings. Like many mayors of depopulated Spain, who eagerly and anxiously await the arrival of crowds of tourists, Juan Ramon Soria Marina says that fires will be his daily concern until the end of the summer, as this territory is covered with forests and has the largest mass of Scots pine in all of Europe, and the mountainous terrain makes access difficult. “If something similar to what happened in the USA [during the eclipses of 2017 and 2024], when highways were paralyzed, happens, we are not prepared. We are as many as we are, we only have one highway that connects Soria with A2“, said the mayor of Vinuesa (Soria). According to Soria Marina, near the Cuerda del Pozo reservoir, all hotels have been booked for a year, and even without the festival, this territory will become a center of attraction for tourists. His village of 800 inhabitants will not receive reinforcements, as the resources of the Civil Guard, paramedics and ambulances available in the province will be concentrated at the six recommended observation points.
Another celebration that will not take place is the Sizigia macro-festival at the Sotonera reservoir in Huesca. It was to last five days and gather 10,000 spectators in a protected area. The permit for its celebration was obtained in April, but at the end of July, the Aragonese Institute of Environmental Management (Inaga) decided that the festival had to undergo a more thorough environmental impact assessment procedure, and it was no longer possible to hold it within the established deadlines. The mayor of Alcalá de Gurrea, Jose Eugenio Marín Atarés, hopes that people will still not go there, as the entrance ticket included accommodation in a campsite, and now visitors have nowhere to stay.
Even in the small northeastern part of Portugal, where the eclipse will be visible, plans are changing. The municipality of Bragança moved its events in Río de Onor and Guadramil to the municipal aerodrome, where the solar eclipse will be 99%. This will avoid the concentration of people near the Montesinho natural park. The Interministerial Commission for Eclipses, responsible for interdepartmental coordination in Spain, asks those who can to watch the eclipse at home or not to travel by car. But
