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French Fire Heads Toward Bordeaux as Spain Battles Record Blaze
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(Bloomberg) -- French and Spanish firefighters preparing to battle wildfires for a sixth consecutive day face worsening weather conditions as temperatures are forecast to rise further.With more than 300,000 people evacuated across the two countries through the weekend, a French official said an uncontrolled fire in the southwest Atlantic coast’s Gironde region is headed toward Bordeaux, an urban center of 265,000 people.“This is a fire that is completely erratic, that has no consistency, it comes and goes” and feeds on itself, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told broadcaster France 2 on Sunday evening, declining to rule out that the blaze will reach Bordeaux. “We must look at things calmly of course, but also with realism.”Temperatures are expected to rise on Monday in central Spain and from Tuesday in France. French and Spanish officials have said the fires are so strong that they are creating their own microclimates. In central Spain, the largest blazes have spread across 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) located between 50 and 100 kilometers (about 30 and 60 miles) south and west of Madrid. Another major Spanish fire is burning some 50 kilometers north of the coastal city of Valencia. One of the fires outside Madrid, in the province of Ávila, accounts for 50,000 hectares of the total, making it the largest wildfire in recorded Spanish history, according to Environmental Minister Sara Aagesen. This burned land was mostly forested hills, while the affected areas south of Madrid are mostly scrubland and farmland. As many as 41 Spanish highways were cut, with some 60,000 people evacuated from their homes in recent days and some 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, in part to keep roads clear for firefighters and soldiers. A special military unit that specializes in natural disasters has deployed 1,500 soldiers. Spain’s fires were fueled by a combination of weather, mainly because the country suffered three heat waves between June and mid-July, depleting soil moisture, along with denser-than-usual vegetation following an unseasonably rainy winter. Similar reasons are being cited in France. Weather experts say heat waves are starting earlier in the year and lasting longer than they did historically because of climate change. Last year was the worst ever for European wildfires, with more than 1 million hectares burned. Prevention and woodland management would have to be considerably ramped up in Spain to avoid future fires of similar scale, said Victor de Resco de Dios, a professor at the University of Lleida. He estimated the work would cost about €3 billion ($3.4 billion) a year. In villages of the Madrid region and Ávila, the scale of the destruction is emerging. At a campsite beside the Pelayos reservoir, only the metal frames of tents remain, standing amid rows of charred tree trunks stripped of their leaves by the fire. Fire smoke degraded air quality in many neighborhoods of the capital over the weekend. --With assistance from Laura Millan.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com©2026 Bloomberg L.P.Get Latest real-time updatesStay updated with the latest Trending, India, World and US news. Follow CJP Protest LIVE updates as Sonam Wangchuk ends his 26-day hunger strike following government assurances, while the Jantar Mantar protest continues. Get the latest updates on talks between the CJP delegation and the Centre, the demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, possible arrests, Delhi security measures and developments in Parliament.HomeNewsFrench Fire Heads Toward Bordeaux as Spain Battles Record BlazeMore
Spain has declared a national emergency after fast-moving wildfires forced around 10,000 people to flee their homes near Madrid, while southern France has evacuated an estimated 40,000 residents as two major blazes continue to spread amid an intense European heatwave.A wall of flames advances as a wildfire burns near Burgohondo, in Ávila province, Spain, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Mateo Lanzuela/Europa Press via AP)(Mateo Lanzuela/Europa Press via )Spain has declared a national emergency after devastating wildfires forced the evacuation of around 10,000 people from villages in the central Madrid region, while southern France ordered tens of thousands more residents to flee as massive blazes continued to spread, AP reported.The emergency declaration means Spain's Interior Ministry, which oversees the country's police and security forces, has assumed command of firefighting operations as regional authorities struggle to contain multiple fires intensified by an ongoing heatwave.The regional government of Madrid said approximately 10,000 people were evacuated from several villages after multiple wildfires burned out of control late Thursday.Spain records one of its worst wildfire seasonsSpain has already seen an estimated 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles) scorched by wildfires this year — more than four times the area burned during the same period in 2025, AP reported.Among this year's most destructive incidents is Spain's second-largest wildfire on record, which consumed around 320 square kilometres (120 square miles) in recent days in Guadalajara province, north of Madrid.Earlier this month, a wildfire in southern Spain claimed 13 lives, marking the country's deadliest blaze in recent memory.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday called for a political consensus to address climate change, saying it is essential for adapting to increasingly fire-prone conditions.Meanwhile, temperatures are forecast to exceed 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) across parts of southeastern Spain, with some areas expected to reach as high as 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit).France seeks European assistanceIn neighbouring France, authorities on Friday ordered additional evacuations along the Atlantic coast as major wildfires continued to spread.An estimated 40,000 people have been forced to leave their homes over the past two days because of a blaze that has burned more than 87 square kilometres (34 square miles) since Wednesday near the popular Cap Ferret peninsula. Some residents reportedly escaped by boat.France has activated the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism to seek additional firefighting support."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.Climate change intensifying wildfire riskSouthern Europe has experienced several large wildfires this summer as extreme heat continues to grip the region.According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising at twice the global average rate since the 1980s.Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing severe heatwaves across Europe. Scientists warn that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of hot, dry conditions, particularly in southeastern Europe, making the region increasingly vulnerable to wildfires and their health impacts.About the AuthorLivemintFor about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world,
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