Segovia wildfire stabilises but evacuations continue as wind risk persists overnight

Fire origin and spread

A wildfire broke out on Saturday afternoon near Navas de San Antonio in the province of Segovia when a car caught fire on the shoulder of the AP-6 toll highway at approximately 16:00. Driven by strong wind gusts and feeding on dry pastureland dotted with holm oaks, the flames spread rapidly, producing a dense smoke column visible from kilometres away and forcing the temporary closure of the AP-6 and the N-VI. The fire was declared Índice de Gravedad Potencial (IGR) 2, the highest level on the Junta de Castilla y León's scale, owing to the threat it posed to nearby population centres. A second fire, active since Sunday afternoon at Revenga about 30 kilometres from the first, was classified IGR 1.

Evacuations and shelter

On Sunday, as the fire reactivated with force during the afternoon, authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of Los Ángeles de San Rafael and Vegas de Matute, and the confinement of Valdeprados. According to El País and eldiario.es, 176 people spent the night away from home: 137 at the El Espinar sports pavilion, 39 at the La Panera civic centre in Villacastín, and six who travelled to Zarzuela del Monte. La Razón reported approximately 400 evacuees across Villacastín and El Espinar, while LaSexta cited around 5,000 evacuees, a figure that appears to reflect the total seasonal population of the affected areas. Javier Figueredo, mayor of El Espinar, noted that Los Ángeles de San Rafael has between 1,600 and 1,700 usual inhabitants but triples in population on weekends and in summer.

Conditions on the ground

More than 200 personnel were deployed by land and air. The terrain posed specific difficulties: dry grassland allowed the fire to advance at speed, holm oaks intensified the flames and smoke, and large granite boulders characteristic of the Guadarrama sierra foothills concealed slow-burning hotspots. Fire could remain active beneath these rocks, consuming vegetation slowly and invisible to crews, only to reignite when wind picked up. The fire came within "barely fifty metres" of the built-up area, particularly near the Los Ángeles reservoir, according to Figueredo.

Wind: the decisive factor

The forecast of southerly winds with gusts up to 38 km/h led the Cecopi, chaired by territorial delegate Raquel Alonso, to maintain all evacuation and confinement orders through Monday. Ignacio Quintanilla, head of the Segovia Environment Service, said wind direction and speed would be "key" to improving the situation, noting that Monday's gusts were expected to be somewhat lower, around 15 km/h with gusts up to 24 km/h.

In the last meeting we had, it was determined that we should remain confined here, because we are not very clear about what will happen with the wind speed. Yesterday that was what forced us to evacuate. So, we prefer to appeal to that prudence and stay here until the next CECOP meeting, which will be around four or five in the afternoon.

Nuria Peña, Civil Protection coordinator in El Espinar, described the first night of the roughly 200 evacuees sheltering there, among them elderly people, children, and pets. She said people had difficulty sleeping but praised their calm and responsibility. The shelter in El Espinar was equipped with food, beds, medical care, and a space for pets, with support from the Junta de Castilla y León, the Diputación, and volunteer groups from Ávila, Cuéllar, and the Comunidad de Madrid.

Monday evening update

At a 20:00 Cecopi meeting on Monday, the perimeter had not grown during the day. The confinement of Valdeprados was lifted, but evacuations of Los Ángeles de San Rafael and Vegas de Matute were maintained due to expected overnight wind gusts and insufficient humidity. The SG-722 road remained closed from Valdeprados to Vegas de Matute. For the Revenga fire, the N-603 was reopened to traffic. The Guardia Civil deployed more than 50 agents to patrol evacuated zones and prevent property crimes.