In a small green meadow located in the Gredos Mountains, west of the Spanish capital, Madrid, about twenty cows are grazing, owned by a farmer named Juan Angel Izquierdo and his family. The silence of this place is only interrupted by the quiet ringing of bells hanging around the necks of these animals.
This scene could have looked like an ideal picture if it were not for the charred pine and oak trees that surround the place on all sides, bearing witness to the effects of the devastating forest fire that broke out recently.
“It (the fire) was huge,” says Izquierdo, whose family has farmed here for 200 years. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
It is worth noting that in late July, a fire broke out and merged with two other fires. The flames consumed about 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres), making it the largest forest fire ever recorded in Spain.
The fire also destroyed more than two-thirds of Izquierdo's land, and 12 of the 85 cows he owned died, and he had to cull eight other animals due to injuries they sustained, in addition to burning all the hay he had collected to feed his cows during the winter.
He says: "For us farmers, the summer seasons have become more worrying year after year, due to their high temperatures, decreased rainfall, and the rainy season ending early, while autumn begins very late."
Forest fires
For farmers, such conditions are synonymous with wildfires.
“If you don't think about forest fires, it makes you feel fine,” Izquierdo says, "but when a fire breaks out in a nearby village, you start to wonder: What if we're the next one?"
Forest fires are one of several manifestations of climate change, and in recent years they have had a significant impact on the Spanish economy, in addition to their contribution to horrific human losses.
The Global Weather Attribution Foundation, an international research organization, concluded that the extreme weather conditions that caused record fires in Spain and Portugal in 2025 were about 40 times more likely due to climate change.
“The ultimate reason for the increase in the frequency and intensity of this type of fire must be attributed to rising levels of greenhouse gases, mainly caused by the widespread use of fossil fuels,” says Ernesto Rodríguez Camino, president of the Spanish Meteorological Society.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the fires in dramatic terms, putting Spain on the front lines of an environmental crisis.
“The climate emergency is killing,” he said in July, during a visit to the southern province of Almería, where forest fires killed 15 people.
About 300,000 hectares of land were burned in Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, which equates to about half of the total affected area in the entire European Union.
It is worth noting that during the past forty years, the area affected by fires in Spain exceeded 200,000 hectares annually on eight occasions, three of them since 2022.
The agricultural insurance association Agroseguro estimated that 16,000 hectares of crops had been destroyed by mid-August this year, resulting in significant losses for Spain's agri-food industry, which contributes 9 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
Local authorities in Castile and León, the region most severely affected by the massive fire that broke out this year near Madrid, are offering compensation ranging between 5,500 euros ($6,300) and 25,000 euros ($29,000) to each farmer, depending on the extent of the damage they incurred.
However, Izquierdo estimates that these compensations will cover only less than half of his losses.
High temperatures
For decades, the warm climate in Spain has been a contributing factor to one of the country's largest business sectors, which is tourism. The sun-soaked resorts along the Mediterranean coast, as well as in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, have contributed to the country's growth as a tourist destination.
It is expected that about 100 million tourists will visit Spain this year, making it the second most visited country in the world, just after France.
However, some indicators indicate that the heat has become too intense for some travellers, as a study conducted by researchers at King Juan Carlos University in Madrid concluded that the heat may be a deterrent to potential visitors.
“When a heat wave occurs, the number of overnight stays in the destinations we studied decreases, as does the number of arrivals from some of the largest tourist markets in Spain,” says Maria Dolores Sanchez, an economist who co-authored the report.
She adds: “Tourism represents 13 percent of Spain’s GDP, so this may have repercussions on Spain’s competitiveness in the medium term.”
The medieval city of Toledo is located in the plains of Castile-La Mancha, far from the Spanish coast, but its ancient history and winding streets make it a popular destination for those seeking an alternative to the country's beaches and bars.
However, this summer tested their ability to withstand the heat, as the country recorded a record 61 days of heat waves that continued until early September, and Toledo repeatedly witnessed temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
“It is very difficult to organize tours during the summer,” says tour guide Diego Esteban, from the tour company Visit Toledo. “We have to adapt, whether we work in the tourism sector or are locals.”
When organizing tours during the summer months, Esteban makes sure to include frequent stops and provide drinking water, and that the itineraries of these tours include a large amount of shade, but he would like to have more shaded areas and additional fountains for drinking water.
He says that rising temperatures have begun to change the timing of the tourist season, as the cooler months of spring and fall attract much larger numbers of visitors.
Warmer summers have also contributed to the spread of what is known as the “cold holiday” trend, as Spanish travelers head to cooler regions for their holidays, often in the north of the country.
Drought was another consequence of the warming climate in Spain. In 2024, after three years of low rainfall, the Catalonia region in the northeast of the country temporarily imposed strict water restrictions, including reducing water consumption by 25 percent in the industrial sector and by 80 percent in crop cultivation.
Heavy rains have since led to the lifting of restrictions, but the drought has had a major impact on the local economy.
Floods
The flash floods that killed 237 people in the east of the country in October 2024, and were centered in the Valencia region, were the most dramatic and bloody natural phenomena that Spain has witnessed in recent years.
The Valencia Chamber of Commerce estimated that the floods caused direct damage amounting to 4.5 billion euros, and thousands of companies were affected, some of which were literally washed away by the floodwaters, while others were able to resume operations after a long period of recovery.
“Climate change affects how we produce, invest and consume,” says Julian Cupero, head of climate change economics at BBVA Research, pointing to how heat could slow economic activity.
“We all work less efficiently when it's hot,” he adds, but adds that a greener economy could create new, more productive jobs.
“The key is to realize that if we don't act, growth will slow, and if managed right, it can turn into an opportunity,” he says.
