Extremadura (Cáceres and northern Badajoz) destination risk · checked against official sources 16 August 2026 at 09:47 UK time

Extremadura (Cáceres and northern Badajoz) Wildfire Risk: Should I Travel?

The Caceres fire is stabilised: the village confinements were lifted on the evening of 2 August and the emergency level was stood down on the 3rd. The A-66 is running normally. The local CC-167 at Casas de Millan was still closed on 4 August.

Short answer: Do not cancel an Extremadura trip. The A-66 is open and running normally, and on 4 August the only entries on it in Cáceres province on the DGT list were routine roadworks well away from the fire ground. The fire that started beside it at Casas de Millán on 1 August evacuated two villages, was stabilised by 3 August and had burnt close to the western edge of Monfragüe national park. Cáceres, Trujillo, Plasencia and Mérida were not affected. What is left to plan around is one local road, the CC-167 at Casas de Millán, which was still closed for the fire on 4 August, a national park whose access may be restricted, and dry ground that keeps fire risk high through August.

Open the relevant wildfire map Read Spain travel advice Campervan checks

Active fire: The A-66 fire at Casas de Millán: 800 people out for a night. Full incident page and official sources →

What is happening

A lorry caught fire at the Puerto de los Castaños on the A-66 in Casas de Millán at about half past one on the afternoon of 1 August, and the flames went into the forest beside the motorway. The Junta de Extremadura reported it stabilised at one hundred per cent on the morning of 3 August and stood down level one of the Infoex and Infocaex plans. It is stabilised rather than extinguished, and crews stayed on to cool the perimeter.

What it means if you are travelling

The confinement of Casas de Millán and Grimaldo was lifted at a quarter to nine on the evening of 2 August, and the regional vice president Abel Bautista said the roads closed by the fire had reopened and rail traffic between Monfragüe and Cáceres had restarted. The A-66 is the main north south motorway through western Spain and is running normally again. The local CC-167 at Casas de Millán, closed in both directions between kilometre 0 and kilometre 2.8 since the fire, has come off the closure list: the Dirección General de Tráfico board of roads cut by fire, generated at 06:25 on 7 August, carries no entries anywhere in Spain. Check it again on the day you drive, because clearance work beside a burnt carriageway brings restrictions at short notice. The N-630 runs parallel over the same pass through Cañaveral and Grimaldo if you ever need it. The Vía de la Plata Camino passes through Cañaveral.

What is still disrupted in Extremadura (Cáceres and northern Badajoz)

Checked against DGT live incident list, with the Junta de Extremadura for the emergency level on 2026-08-04. Conditions change daily during and after a fire, and the source below is the authority.

Restriction lifted: Village confinements lifted. Lifted at 20:45 on 2 August. The Monfragüe to Caceres rail service was restored and the Junta stood down its level-one Infoex and Infocaex alert on 3 August with the fire stabilised. (as of 2026-08-03)
Check locally: A-66 through Caceres province is running. The DGT live list on the morning of 4 August showed no fire closure anywhere on the A-66 in Caceres province, only routine roadworks well away from the fire ground. (as of 2026-08-04)
Still closed: CC-167 at Casas de Millan cut from km 0 to 2.8. Still listed as closed in both directions for the fire on the DGT live list on the morning of 4 August, and closed since the early hours of 2 August. The Junta said on 2 August that the roads it had closed were open again, so treat this one local road as the exception and check DGT before it. (as of 2026-08-04)
Advice in force: Summer fire risk stays high. The Infoex director general said on 3 August that the vegetation is dry enough to keep the risk across Extremadura high. AEMET had no weather warning in force for Caceres or Badajoz in its bulletin of 4 August, so the heatwave warnings of late July have ended. (as of 2026-08-04)

DGT live incident list, with the Junta de Extremadura for the emergency level →

Free destination checks

The A-66 before you drive it

This is the main route south through western Spain. Smoke closed the lanes beside the fire on 1 August, and closures here arrive with no warning. Check DGT on the day.

Monfragüe access

The fire reached the park's western approaches. If you are going for the birdwatching, ask the park what is open before you set out.

Casas de Millán and Grimaldo

Residents are home and the confinement was lifted on the evening of 2 August. The local CC-167 out of the village was still closed for the fire on 4 August, and it is not a place to drive through to see the burn.

Heat, not just fire

AEMET had no weather warning in force for Cáceres or Badajoz on 4 August, but the Infoex director general said the day before that the vegetation is dry enough to keep fire risk high across the region.

Nearby alternatives to compare

Mérida and Cáceres old towns,City sightseeing is unaffected and works better than open countryside in this heat
The Extremadura reservoirs,Orellana and Alqueva offer swimming and shade with none of the forest fire exposure
The Atlantic coast of Portugal,A few hours west and around fifteen degrees cooler if the heatwave is the deal breaker

Active fire in Extremadura (Cáceres and northern Badajoz)

Extremadura (Cáceres and northern Badajoz) has an active fire event: burning, spreading, or an evacuation in force. The summary above is the current picture; the linked incident page and official sources carry the live detail, and conditions can change faster than this page. Always follow local authorities.

Sources used for this page

Europe Fire Map is travel decision support, not an emergency service or an official incident feed. Conditions can change faster than this page. Follow local authorities, accommodation providers and emergency services first. In danger anywhere in the EU, call 112.