Bordeaux, France / EuroWire / – Severe wildfires across southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula have led to the evacuation of about 260,000 residents and visitors from key tourist spots. Driven by consecutive heatwaves, dry conditions, and unpredictable wind changes, the fires have spread through coastal areas near Bordeaux and rural zones west of Madrid. Both French and Spanish emergency agencies have declared emergency levels, as thick smoke clouds disrupted major transportation routes and forced the closure of several resort areas. Authorities explained that extended high temperatures created extreme fire risks, prompting widespread evacuation orders to protect public safety.
In France, officials ordered mass evacuations in the Gironde department after fires approached large holiday communities along the Atlantic coast. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that around 200,000 people were moved to temporary shelters, calling it possibly the largest peacetime civilian evacuation in the country’s history. The French Armed Forces sent 1,500 personnel to support emergency services on the ground. Military aircraft, including an Airbus A400M Atlas equipped with water-dropping systems, were deployed to fight fires in remote forested areas.
Regional authorities in southwestern France began phased evacuations of the Cap Ferret peninsula as fires burned thousands of hectares of coastal pine forests. The Prefecture of Gironde confirmed that emergency responders set up temporary centers inside exhibition halls in Bordeaux to shelter incoming families. Medical aid, temporary housing, and masks to protect from smoke were provided to evacuees. Firefighting teams received reinforcements from the Paris Fire Brigade and aerial firefighting units from European partner countries, helping overstretched local crews.
Across the border in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited fire-affected areas west of Madrid. Several fires had merged into a single large wildfire. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska reported that over 60,000 residents and tourists had been evacuated from towns within the Madrid region. Emergency units from the Military Emergencies Unit were dispatched to establish protective barriers around threatened communities. In eastern Spain, a wildfire near Valencia resulted in one fatality and prompted additional evacuations from rural farmland.