Wildfires sweeping through northwestern Spain have reached the Picos de Europa National Park, an area of immense ecological value, forcing Civil Protection authorities to order evacuations across ten villages in the Valdeón Valley—a prime tourist destination in León province, Castile and León. According to the Regional Government’s Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), the evacuations span a broad zone, including the municipality of Posada de Valdeón and all its hamlets, notably the tourist hotspot of Cain, where summer populations surge. Residents have been relocated to emergency shelters in Riaño.
The blaze’s advance stems from two converging fire fronts straddling Castile and León and Asturias, prompting the closure of the Cares Gorge Trail—one of Spain’s most renowned hiking routes—in the heart of the national park. Funicular services were suspended, and mountain refuges evacuated. Preemptive evacuations have displaced 3,000 people in Castile and León amid fears of another environmental disaster, following recent fires that ravaged part of Las Médulas Natural Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.