The Balearic Islands closed 2025 with one of the best forest fire balances in recent decades, both in terms of the number of fires and the forest area affected, consolidating 2025 as the second best year since records began (1974) in terms of area burned.
During the year, 82 forest fires were recorded throughout the archipelago, with a total area affected of 17.1 hectares, of which 13.4 hectares corresponded to treeless vegetation and 3.7 hectares to wooded vegetation.
These figures are well below the average of the last ten years (88 fires and 148 hectares burned annually), as highlighted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment on Friday.
By islands, Mallorca concentrates 48 percent of the ignitions, with 39 forest fires, followed by Ibiza, with 26 fires (32 percent of the total). Menorca, with nine fires (11 percent), and Formentera, with eight (10 percent), are the islands with the fewest fires recorded during the year.
Likewise, most of the fires occurred during the high danger season, between May 1 and October 15, when 60 fires were recorded, affecting 15.8 hectares. These fires represent 97 percent of the total area burned during the entire year.
In terms of the severity of the claims, only one fire has reached the level of IGP1, due to its proximity to an urban center. It is the fire of sa Talaia de Sant Antoni de Portmany, on July 30, which remained an outburst.
In the absence of final investigations, 96 percent of the forest fires have been caused by human activity, either by negligence, accidents or intentional acts, while only 4 percent have had a natural origin, mainly by lightning.
“No need to relax.”
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, who thanked the work and dedication of all the staff of the inter-island forest fire operation (OIIF), stressed that “these data, largely, and also taking into account the luck factor, are the result of constant work in awareness, prevention, coordination and rapid response to forest fires”.
However, he warned against “relaxing” because the current climate change context increases the danger year after year.
Likewise, Simonet has valued the nearly 500 hectares carried out this year by the Conselleria for the prevention of forest fires. “The fires are extinguished during the winter, so prevention work, such as forest belts, are one of the main lines of action of the Government,” he stressed.
In this regard, he recalled that in December the new call for aid for the prevention of forest fires (PIFO) and the active management of forests for the years 2025 and 2026 was published.
The resolution approves an initial endowment of 1.5 million euros for the 2025 call, with the possibility of an additional increase if necessary.
According to Simonet, this line of subsidies allows owners and managers of forest estates to carry out actions that contribute to reducing the danger of fires and restoring the damage caused by natural phenomena.
He also called for co-responsibility, stressing that “it is essential” to continue encouraging forest owners, land managers and other administrations to continue working together in fire prevention and active landscape management, “key to have more resilient territories in the face of fire”.
For her part, the general director of Natural Environment and Forest Management, Anna Torres, considered it “fundamental” to remember that, although the most dangerous and extensive fires usually occur during the high danger season, the possibility of a forest fire exists throughout the year.
For this reason, he pointed out, it is essential to have an inter-island operation tailored to the characteristics of the Balearic Islands, as well as to insist on the importance of self-protection, prevention, active forest management and public awareness, especially in urban-forestal interface areas.
