Wildfires in France and Spain force more than 70,000 people to evacuate

Wildfires raging in France and Spain have forced mass evacuations and prompted both countries to appeal to fellow EU members for help.

France ordered tens of thousands more to leave their homes or holiday accommodation on Friday, in areas which are popular with tourists, after wildfires broke out in the south-west of the country.

Meanwhile, Spain’s government declared a national emergency on Friday and ordered the evacuation of over 10,000 people near Madrid.

Smoldering smoke rises from a charred forest in France. / Credit: AP

Both nations have been battling with extraordinarily high temperatures and dry weather in recent months, making them exceptionally prone to wildfires.

In southwestern France on Friday, the government ordered more mass evacuations on the Atlantic coast. An estimated 40,000 people have been driven from their homes over the past two days in the region.

More than 100 square kilometres have already been burned by the blaze, which has been raging since Wednesday near the Cap Ferret peninsula, which is popular with tourists. Some people were forced to flee by boat.

The fires began on Tuesday in the small commune of Saumos, near Bordeaux.

Smoke and flames rise as a wildfire advances near Burgohondo. / Credit: AP

France requested the activation of the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.

“We will soon be able to rely on reinforcements including two Croatian Canadair firefighting aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that Italy and Greece are each sending two Canadair water-dumping planes.

Residents spend the night at a sports centre after being evacuated from their homes because of the threat of a wildfire in Spain. / Credit: AP

“We are experiencing a dramatic situation, not just in several Spanish regions but also in neighbouring countries,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X.

“My solidarity with all the people who have been affected and been forced to leave their homes.”

In Spain, the national emergency means that the nation’s interior ministry, which controls police and security forces, has taken charge of overseeing the firefighting efforts by Spain’s regions as they struggle to battle multiple blazes that are being fanned by a heatwave.

The regional government of Madrid, which spans a wide area around the capital city, said 10,000 people had been evacuated from different villages as multiple fires raged out of control late on Thursday.

People and police officers watch a helicopter flying over the Ares region during the wildfires. / Credit: AP

Spain has seen an estimated 500 square miles already burned this year, over four times the amount of terrain that was burned through the first half of 2025.

This year’s fires include Spain’s second-largest ever fire that consumed some 120 square miles in recent days in the province of Guadalajara north of Madrid.

Thirteen people, including several British nationals, were also killed in a fire in southern Spain earlier this month, the deadliest fire in recent memory for Spain.

Spain has called for a pact between political parties to fight climate change. Temperatures are expected to top 39C in parts of southeastern Spain in the coming days, including a high of 44C.

Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as quickly as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing severe heat waves across Europe.

Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, especially in southeastern Europe, making the region more vulnerable to health impacts and wildfires.