After evacuating 290,000… France and Spain are struggling to stop the spread of devastating fires

On Sunday, forest fires approached the outskirts of the ancient French city of Bordeaux, located in the heart of the vineyard regions, while France and Spain tried to control the fires that forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

The authorities evacuated about 220,000 people in France and more than 75,000 in Spain from their homes, and ordered approximately 30,000 to take shelter in their places.

In France, fires swept through the Cape Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, a popular tourist destination, and spread across the areas surrounding the city of Bordeaux, as firefighters strive to prevent the flames from reaching the region’s capital.

“The fire is about 15 kilometers from the main entrances to the city,” said Thomas Cazenave, mayor of Bordeaux, on Sunday.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote on Ex that the situation remains difficult. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the areas affected by fires in Abella, one of three regions in the center of the country affected by huge fires along with Madrid and Toledo, where the fires destroyed more than 45 thousand hectares.

Multiple fires in Spain

Authorities in the Castellón region in eastern Spain said that a separate fire in the region had destroyed more than 4,300 hectares.

“The fire is out of control and technically very difficult to extinguish, especially due to the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day,” Juanfran Pérez, head of the local government of Valencia, told reporters near the site of the fire.

The fire spread to the Sierra de Espadan Natural Park, which includes vast forests of pine and oak trees.

These fires are the latest disasters linked to the prolonged dry season and successive heat waves, which scientists say have been intensified by climate change.

The Reuters Climate Observatory showed that the average maximum temperature in both Bordeaux and Abela during July reached 32 degrees Celsius, which is approximately six degrees Celsius above the average maximum temperature typical for this month between 1961 and 1990.

International aid

Within the framework of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, Greece and Italy sent two firefighting aircraft to Spain, while Portugal deployed more than 100 military personnel as well as equipment.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said on Ex that two more planes would arrive “as soon as possible” from Türkiye.

Sanchez said that his government will declare on Tuesday a state of emergency for civil protection in the central provinces affected by forest fires, allowing additional funding for reconstruction.

He added that the fires have burned more than 150,000 hectares across Spain since January, which represents six times the area destroyed during the same period last year.

In the Scottish Highlands, up to 500 firefighters have been working to extinguish a huge fire inside Britain’s Cairngorms National Park since July 15.