Wildfires in France and Spain Prompt Evacuations of Over 80,000 People

More than 80,000 people were evacuated on Friday as wildfires raged in southwestern France and central Spain. In France, the blaze that began near the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast consumed about 100 square kilometres and prompted the evacuation of over 60,000 residents, many of whom were taken to safety by boat. Around 1,500 evacuees arrived by sea in the nearby city of Arcachon, where local officials set up a reception area offering basic refreshments.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 40,000 people were evacuated in the Gironde department and 23,000 in the Landes. President Emmanuel Macron announced that the European Union would send two Croatian Canadair aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor planes, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Spain also requested EU help, with Italy and Greece each sending two Canadair water-dropping planes, according to Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

In Spain, a national emergency was declared after fires near Madrid and in the province of Ávila forced the evacuation of roughly 20,000 people. The regional government of Madrid reported about 18,000 residents displaced from villages west of the capital, while the mayor of Burgohondo said 1,500 inhabitants were evacuated as a precaution. Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, noted that 1,140 square kilometres have burned this year, more than five times the area burned in the first half of the previous year.

High temperatures, strong winds and rugged terrain hampered firefighting efforts in both countries. Authorities said the fires were accidental, though investigations are ongoing. The incidents come amid a broader pattern of severe heatwaves and record temperatures across Europe, which scientists attribute to accelerating climate change.