Forests fires map

To improve map performance, only fires that have affected 5 hectares or more are shown on mobile devices. If you want to see all fires that have burned 1 or more hectares, please visit this page from a computer.

The 603,581 forest fires that occurred between 1968 and 2021 burned 7,651,286 hectares (Ha), an area greater than that of all the Autonomous Communities except Andalusia, Castile and Leon and Castile-La Mancha.

The map shows the fires with location (from 1983) to 2016 (last consolidated year) that burned 1 Ha or more, equivalent to 68% of the total burned area.

Explore the map Guided tour Next

Worst years on record

1989 was the year with the most fires recorded in the last 50 years. That year alone there were 15,922 fires of more than 1 ha, 5,000 more than the next highest fire year.

However, the year in which the largest area of Spain burned was 1985, when 483,844 ha were burned.

Most fires are arson

Man is the principal cause of most of the fires that occurred between 1983 and 2016. In addition, 54% were started intentionally. (marked in red on the map).

The most affected autonomous community was Galicia, where almost 49% of the total number of hectares deliberately burned in Spain between 1983 and 2016, according to official data. In second place is Castilla y León, which accounts for more than 14% of the total area intentionally burned during those 34 years.

The data provided by the Government in relation to the economic losses and expenditures on forest fire extinction are very incomplete. According to this official information, the fires cost the treasury more than 2.2 billion euros.

Great forest fires

Fires of 500 hectares or more ─ officially called "big forest fires" (BFF) ─ are few in number, but their consequences are devastating. In quantitative terms, they represent only 0.6% of the total number of fires that occurred between 1983 and 2016. However, they burned 40.4% of the total burned area.

Map view of fires with 500 hectares or more

Burned to rezone? Data says no

Every summer, with the beginning of the fire season, there is a widespread suspicion that the burning of the forests is largely due to urban development interests: to requalify the land and, ultimately, to be able to build and develop in the area.

However, the data deflates this claim. Between 1983 and 2016, only 0.56% of intentional fires were caused to change land use, according to the EGIF database. Note the map: they are so few that they are barely visible. There are 674 fires, totaling almost 3,000 hectares burned. This area represents only 0.11% of the total area of forest burned intentionally in that period.

Map view of intentional fires that were caused to change land use

Fires are merciless with Galicia

Galicia is the autonomous community where more fires occurred between 1983 and 2016: 36% of Spain's total. 80,162 fires burned nearly 1,200,000 hectares, an area larger than the province of Vizcaya.

Orense was the most affected province. In addition, the data show that among the hundred Spanish municipalities where the most fires have occurred between 1983 and 2016, as many as 70 are located in Galicia.

Incomplete data

But the data does not stay in 2016. The ministry's fire statistics offer data up to 2021, but very incomplete. 18 provinces have no fires after 2016. Of the rest, just 28 provinces have data in 2017 and only 4 offer data on fires in 2021.

However, although incomplete,they are still significant data. In 2017, Asturias recorded the worst year in terms of area burned in the 21st century, with 28,182 Ha burned.

Fires are positioned on the map according to the coordinates that appear in the General Forest Fire Statistics (EGIF), the database compiled by the Ministry, consolidated as of May 19, 2024. When they do not have coordinates or are poorly positioned (outside the limits of the province of origin), we locate them in the coordinates of the municipality of origin.

More information on the methodology.