Firefighters battle to keep blazes away from France's Bordeaux; Macron calls crisis meeting
Massive wildfires are threatening the French city of Bordeaux, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people across France and Spain. President Emmanuel Macron has called an emergency cabinet meeting as the region faces record-breaking heatwaves.
Why it matters
The scale of the wildfires and the associated heatwave underscore the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters in Europe.
Firefighters battled throughout the night and into Monday (July 27, 2026) morning to tackle huge wildfires threatening the French city of Bordeaux.
About 2,20,000 people have been evacuated in France, while in neighbouring Spain more than 75,000 people have been evacuated and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, authorities said over the weekend, as Europe faces an intense summer heatwave.
“This is a fire of a size never seen before,” said Jerome Steffe, mayor of Cestas, on Monday (July 27, 2026). Cestas is one of the suburbs that lies just outside the main Bordeaux city area and from where thousands have had to be evacuated from homes and holiday residences.
The blazes, which broke out last week near the Atlantic coast, are now 15 km (10 miles) away from entry points to the main metropolitan area of Bordeaux.
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