A wildfire in the north of the natural park Collserola led to evacuations and extensive precautionary measures on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, in Barcelona The authorities evacuated in Torre Baró a first row of houses bordering the woodland; according to official figures, 35 people in buildings on Lliçà and Castellví streets were affected. At the same time, Protecció Civil urged around 14,000 residents of Torre Baró and Ciutat Meridiana via ES‑Alert to stay indoors and keep windows and doors closed.
The fire broke out at around 15:20 above Alta de les Roquetes street, near the neighbourhood Canyelles in the Nou Barris district. According to the authorities, the fire was initially not under control and was spreading through scrubland towards the Collserola hills. Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat activated the emergency plan Pla Infocat and set up an incident and operations centre on site, which was in constant contact with the Centre de Coordinació Operativa de Catalunya (CECAT).
The firefighting operation involved Bombers de la Generalitat and the Bombers de Barcelona with more than a hundred firefighters. The crews focused on preventing the flames from spreading to residential areas and protecting emergency personnel in the affected streets. Evacuation and shelter-in-place measures were implemented in the afternoon and, according to the authorities, continuously reviewed.
Facts, attributions and outlook: The location and time the fire broke out, the evacuation of the first residential block in Torre Baró, the number of people affected there, the ES-Alert messages for Torre Baró and Ciutat Meridiana, and the activation of Pla Infocat and coordination through the CECAT have been confirmed. Details of the exact area burned and the cause of the fire were not available initially on Tuesday and were explicitly described by emergency services as provisional or unknown. Wind, vegetation and the availability of air support would determine how the fire developed; it was not yet possible to estimate when it would be fully contained.
The authorities urged the public to respect cordons strictly and follow the instructions of emergency personnel. People with respiratory problems were advised to take precautions because of the smoke.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).