Wildfires in France and Spain force more than 300,000 people to flee homes
Massive wildfires are threatening regions in France and Spain, forcing over 300,000 people to evacuate their homes. Authorities are struggling to contain the blazes, which are being exacerbated by extreme heatwaves and prolonged drought.
Why it matters
The event underscores the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters in Europe.
Wildfires advanced towards the outskirts of the historic French city of Bordeaux, at the heart of the country’s wine lands, on Sunday as France and Spain battled blazes that have already forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.
About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, while in Spain more than 75,000 people have had to leave their homes and about 30,000 more ordered to shelter in place, authorities said. In France, fires have ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, a popular tourist destination, and spread through areas surrounding Bordeaux, where firefighters were trying to prevent the flames from reaching the regional capital.
“The fire is about 15km away from the entry points to the main city,” Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said on Sunday, while interior minister Laurent Nunez said on X that the situation remained “difficult”.
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