Spain needs a legal overhaul to protect homes from fire: here’s what it can learn from Australia and Greece

By César Martín-Gómez, Catedrático en instalaciones y sistemas energéticos en arquitectura y urbanismo, Universidad de Navarra
José Manuel Cabrero, Catedrático. Estructuras Arquitectónicas y Construcción con Madera. Cátedra Madera, Universidad de Navarra

On July 24, 2026, multiple forest fires spurred by an intense heatwave led Spain’s government to declare a national emergency in the Community of Madrid and the province of Ávila.

Widespread evacuations and the deployment of the national Military Emergency Unit (UME) confirmed what researchers have been saying for years: fires that spread to built-up areas demand radically different responses to those that have governed forest firefighting in Spain up to now.

The area where natural landscape meets built-up areas is technically known as the “wildland-urban interface”. Globally,…

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