France and Spain battle massive wildfires; over 200,000 evacuated
France and Spain continue to fight massive wildfires that have forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people. France's prime minister says the fires have reached an unprecedented level, while Spain has declared a national emergency.
On Saturday, French authorities began evacuating thousands of people from suburbs near Bordeaux as wildfires in areas around the city showed no signs of abating. Sophie Brocas, head of the local administration of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde, said on X that the areas of Le Haillan, Eysines, and Merignac were being cleared.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said more than 141,000 people have been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions, where wildfires first broke out this week. He wrote on X that the fires hitting the country have reached a level never seen before. The French army has also been drafted in to help.
Spain's government declared a national emergency on Thursday evening after wildfires threatened areas near the capital and in the neighboring province of Ávila, leading to the evacuation or confinement of more than 63,000 people. A national emergency, which allows central government to assume control of powers usually held by regions, has only been declared once before, during the countrywide blackout of April 2025.
The Madrid regional government requested assistance, describing the situation as one of "extreme gravity" and saying at least four active fires could advance "beyond current extinguishing capacity." Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez chaired an emergency response meeting and thanked all emergency services. He was due to visit the affected area on Saturday morning.
In response to the crisis, French President Emmanuel Macron activated the EU's civil protection mechanism on Friday. He said reinforcements from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia would arrive soon. France's interior minister said 32 wildfires were burning, with 50,000 hectares scorched so far this year – nearly four times the total by the same date last year.
Scientists say climate breakdown is triggering more frequent and extreme weather events, evaporating soils and waterways, fueling wildfires, and leading to thousands of excess deaths. Europe is heating at about twice the global average rate.
