The third vice president and minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, has requested to appear before the Congress of Deputies to report on the actions taken in response to the climate emergency in the context of the current wildfire campaign.
The request registered by the minister includes the intention to "report on the actions taken in response to the climate emergency within the framework of the proposals for a Country Pact and in the context of the campaign against wildfires," according to information released by Europa Press.
More than 262,000 hectares affected as of August 20
The appearance comes after an especially intense campaign. The latest provisional data from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge raises the affected area by wildfires to 262,030 hectares between January 1 and August 20, 2026. In that same report, 43 large wildfires are counted, the category that groups fires that exceed 500 hectares of affected area.
The evolution of the campaign had begun with figures much higher than those recorded during the previous year. On July 5, Spain had already accumulated 50,750 hectares affected, more than double that on the same date in 2025. The comparison changed in mid-August. According to the official report published by the Ministry, by the 17th, the wildfires had affected 254,730 hectares, compared to the 295,580 counted in the same period of 2025, a difference of almost 41,000 hectares.
The Ministry also highlighted that, for the first time in the current decade, the affected wooded area exceeded the sum of non-wooded shrub vegetation and herbaceous vegetation. Of the hectares counted until August 17, 127,025.78 corresponded to wooded land.
More flight hours in the state device
The intensity of the wildfire campaign has also been reflected in the use of state resources. As of August 18, the Ministry's aircraft had accumulated 8,753 flight hours, compared to the 4,912 recorded in the same period of the previous year, an increase of 78%.
These resources are mobilized at the request of the autonomous communities, which are the competent administrations in matters of extinction, when they need to reinforce their capabilities in response to the evolution of the fires.
With this background scenario, the appearance requested by Aagesen will allow to convey to Congress the balance and the actions carried out during one of the most demanding fire campaigns of the year.