Just a year ago, in a valley between Colmenar del Arroyo and Robledo de Chavela, two Madrid-based ranchers, Raúl Rodríguez and Víctor Manuel Alonso, brought to life a project that seemed almost like science fiction: to reintroduce the European bison to the Madrid countryside, a species that had been absent from this region for thousands of years. Spanning 240 hectares, they established Bisonte Park, a nature reserve of holm oaks, junipers, and savin oaks where these large herbivores grazed in semi-freedom alongside horses and cows. The massive wildfire that ravaged the southwest of the Community of Madrid in July 2026 turned that landscape into a hellish scene… but it also demonstrated the extent to which grazing can act as a natural firebreak and save part of the estate and its animals.
The fire, which originated near the Cinco Villas hill and spread through the Sierra Oeste, has scorched more than 160 of Bisonte Park’s 240 hectares, leaving a sea of black tree trunks and gray soil where everything was once green. According to the newspaper El Mundo, Raúl Rodríguez was trapped by the flames while trying to protect his animals and had to flee along nearly impassable trails to save his life.
The next day, he returned convinced that he had lost everything. What he found was a stark contrast: much of the estate reduced to ashes, but the plots where his horses, cows, and bison grazed were practically intact, with the ground still green and the low vegetation untouched. His 25 cows, a bull, and the herd of bison had survived with only a few minor scrapes.
According to the rancher, it was precisely the continuous grazing of these animals that had kept the grass short and the vegetation less dense, creating a strip of low fuel load that acted as a natural firebreak. The main front of the fire stopped when it reached those “cleared” areas and did not advance into the park with the same ferocity as it did in the surrounding hills.
Bison as Firebreaks: Science, Expectations, and Nuances
The scene at Bisonte Park comes at a time when the idea of using bison as a tool against wildfires is the subject of intense debate in Spain. Projects such as the one in a small town in Guadalajara—which has brought in nine bison to restore the forest—are based on the same principle as what happened in Madrid: these animals eat a wide variety of plants (up to 180 different species), keep the land clearer, and reduce the fuel load.
Researchers and organizations such as Rewilding Spain refer to bison as potential “ecosystem engineers,” capable of creating forests that are more resilient to fire if they are maintained in a semi-wild state for years. However, part of the scientific community is calling for caution: they point out that there is no clear evidence that the European bison is the only solution for controlling biomass and note that cattle or red deer may have similar or even greater effects on clearing the woodland.
In fact, a fire in 2024 at the El Encinarejo estate (Jaén), where there were 19 bison, destroyed a third of the property, calling into question the idea that their presence guarantees fewer fires. Experts insist that there are no miracles: bison, like other large herbivores, can be just one more tool in a comprehensive strategy that includes extensive livestock farming, firebreaks, forest management, controlled grazing, and the removal of plant debris.