Spain and France wildfires force over 250,000 evacuations

Severe wildfires sweeping Spain’s Madrid and Ávila provinces and France’s Gironde, Landes and surrounding coastal areas have forced the evacuation or confinement of more than 250,000 people. In Spain, around 70,000 residents were ordered to leave their homes and another 20,000 placed under confinement as flames engulfed up to 130,000 hectares of forest. In France, roughly 180,000 people were moved from towns such as Bordeaux, Cap Ferret and the Gironde region, with hundreds of thousands more under shelter in makeshift centres.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a national emergency, coordinated a single command centre and deployed thousands of firefighters, military units and aircraft, while French President Emmanuel Macron activated a joint civil‑military operation and requested EU assistance. Aircraft from Romania, Croatia, Germany, Portugal and Turkey, as well as A400M transport planes, have been dispatched to aid suppression efforts. The fires have caused at least one confirmed death in Valencia and destroyed thousands of homes and hundreds of buildings.

International solidarity has been expressed by several countries, including a statement of support from Venezuela’s foreign ministry. The crisis is being monitored by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which has provided additional water‑bombing aircraft and satellite monitoring. Authorities warn that shifting winds and continued heat waves could further exacerbate the situation.