Wildfires Force Tens of Thousands to Evacuate in France and Spain
More than 60,000 residents fled their homes as massive wildfires swept across southwestern France and the Madrid region, prompting evacuations and a request for EU assistance.
Wildfires across southwestern France and the Madrid region of Spain forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes on Friday, as extreme heat and strong winds intensified the blazes. In France, authorities ordered the evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, a popular Atlantic holiday spot, and hundreds escaped by boat as a fast-moving fire approached. Prefect Sophie Brocas described the blaze as highly unpredictable and noted a second fire burning in the Landes region.
France’s interior minister Laurent Nuñez said more than 60,000 people have been displaced and that 32 fires are active nationwide. In Spain, regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso said the situation in the Madrid area is the most severe in the region’s history and emphasized that saving lives is the top priority. She added that the fires are spreading amid extremely high temperatures and strong winds.
Both governments have declared national emergencies and asked the European Union for additional resources. Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska warned that several nearby fires could merge, creating a larger and more aggressive blaze.
The incidents are part of a broader wave of wildfires that have affected Europe this summer, following a series of heat waves that produced record-high temperatures in Western Europe, according to the Copernicus monitoring agency. Experts say rising temperatures linked to human-caused climate change are increasing the frequency and severity of such fires.