Thousands of Spanish evacuees return as crews 'containing' wildfires

Thousands of Spaniards evacuated during massive wildfires started to return home on Wednesday as the government said it was working to contain some of the worst forest fires in the country's modern history.

Late on Tuesday, the government lifted evacuation orders on more than a dozen municipalities in the Madrid and Avila areas, the centre of wildfires that displaced tens of thousands of people.

"24,000 evacuated individuals have been able to return to their homes, and another 20,000 have been released from confinement in the Community of Madrid," central government delegate to the region Francisco Martin Aguirre said on X late on Tuesday.

"Work continues to consolidate the progress made throughout the day in tackling the fire. The return of evacuees is proceeding without incident."

On Wednesday morning, the area around the village of Aldea del Fresno, where residents were able to return after the evacuation order ended, was still shrouded in smoke and a strong smell of burning hung in the air, an AFP correspondent reported.

High winds and a new heatwave have complicated Spain's efforts to battle the fires that have consumed around 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) -- an area almost the size of New York City.

The central government's Madrid delegate's office said on Wednesday that better overnight weather conditions had helped crews reduce the intensity of the fires and stabilise their perimeter.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters on Tuesday that firefighters were containing the fires but work on Wednesday would aim to stabilise and extinguish all the flames if possible.

A similar easing of evacuations and restrictions was already implemented in the eastern area of Castellon near Valencia, where the municipality of Vall d'Uixo lifted a confinement order for residents on Tuesday.

Forest fires have scorched 207,000 hectares nationwide in Spain so far this year, among the worst on record for a January to July period, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

Spanish authorities have reported slightly different figures, but they are of the same order of magnitude, confirming devastation of exceptional scale.