MADRID, July 27, (V7N)– Spain faces two crucial days to bring raging wildfires under control before weather conditions worsen, authorities said Monday, though they were making some progress and planned to start returning evacuees to certain areas.

The wildfires that broke out in forested areas around the Spanish capital at the height of summer holidays have forced some 60,000 people to flee their homes, often with just minutes' notice, leaving pets and medicine behind. "You run to save what you can and then you turn to defend" against the fire, said Karim Benali, 39, a volunteer near Navaluenga, west of Madrid. "There were some 48 homes here, they burned," he said, surrounded by charred earth and a persistent smell of smoke.

Overnight, lower temperatures, weaker winds, and higher humidity helped make progress against the blazes west of the capital, the Madrid regional government said. The flames have "slowed their advance" during the night, but the fire is still active. However, with humidity set to drop and temperatures set to soar across Spain—hitting 40°C in the centre and south—firefighters face a small window of opportunity.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said Monday that "today and tomorrow are absolutely decisive days" to control the fires, "because from Wednesday the weather forecasts become highly unfavourable for firefighting efforts." AEMET said from Tuesday onwards fire risk would "surge to very high or extreme levels across almost the entire country."

Maria Angeles Canete fought back tears as she looked around the desolation that used to be her home at a campsite near Navaluenga: "We lost everything. We had this campsite, we had another one, and we've lost it all." Madrid authorities said they were planning to restore bus services and allow farmers to return to feed their animals.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez directly blamed global warming, describing the fires as "the most painful expression of a climate emergency." He added: "This is no longer an exception, this is a rule itself." Sanchez is due to visit a fire-hit area in Valencia, where 15,000 people have been evacuated. Since the start of the year, fires in Spain have ravaged 150,000 hectares and killed 13 people, according to Sanchez. Scientists say climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.

END/WD/RH