France and Spain race to control wildfires as suburbs of Bordeaux begin evacuation – live | Wildfires
Evacuations began in some suburbs of Bordeaux
French authorities evacuated thousands of people from suburbs near Bordeaux on Saturday as wildfires in areas around the city showed no signs of abating, Reuters news agency reported.
Sophie Brocas, who heads the local government of La Nouvelle-Aquitaine et de la Gironde, which covers the Bordeaux region, said that in X, the areas of Le Haillan, Eysines and Merignac were cleared.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that more than 141 thousand people have been evacuated so far from the Gironde and Landes regions close to Bordeaux, where forest fires first broke out this week.
“The fires hitting our country have reached a level never seen before,” Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday. The French army was also called to help.
important events
Spaniard Sanchez will visit affected areas today
Sam Jones
The Spanish government declared a national emergency on Thursday evening after wildfires threatened near the capital and in the neighboring province of Ávila, leading to the evacuation or imprisonment of more than 63,000 people.
The national emergency, which allows the central government to assume overall control of powers and responsibilities that usually belong to Spain’s self-governing regions, has been declared only once before, in April 2025, during a nationwide blackout.
Madrid’s regional government called for help, describing the situation as “extremely dire”. It was stated that at least four active fires could progress “beyond current extinguishing capacity”. The fires could not be brought under control on Friday.
Spanish officials said Friday afternoon that there was “very little time left” before the fire in Madrid consists of two combined fires, along with the Ávila fire.
Carlos Novillo, Madrid’s regional environment minister, said the fire had reached a “critical moment” and was “beyond our capacity to extinguish it”. He added: “The priority now is to protect people, help evacuees and make the most of windows of opportunity.”
As Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez chaired an emergency response meeting at the Moncloa palace on Friday morning, the state meteorological office warned that the danger of further fires was still very high.
He said the government was using “all available resources” and added: “It will be there for you during the emergency and the recovery.”
The Prime Minister also thanked “all the emergency services who are fighting day and night”. Sánchez is expected to visit the affected area on Saturday morning.
Macron asked for help from the EU for 32 fires in France
Jon Henley
On Friday, French president Emmanuel Macron said he was activating the EU’s civil protection mechanism as the country battles numerous forest fires after suffering three almost consecutive heat waves since May.
“Soon we will be able to count on reinforcements from two Croatian planes, two Portuguese planes, as well as two heavy helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” Macron said.
Meanwhile, French interior minister Laurent Nuñez said that 32 forest fires have burned so far this year, burning 50,000 hectares; This is almost four times the total for the same date last year.
Race to control forest fires in France and Spain
Hello and welcome back to our coverage of the wildfires spreading across parts of Spain and France.
More than 200,000 people have been evacuated or quarantined in both countries as firefighters struggle to contain the spread of fires.
Authorities in southwestern France have ordered the evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast “village by village” in the face of an “intense, highly unpredictable” wildfire that has burned more than 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) of forest.
The Spanish government has declared its first national forest fire emergency, amid scorching hot and dry weather across much of Southern Europe, as two large fires outside Madrid have merged into one and a third is on the verge of joining them.
Both countries asked for help from the EU. “This is the worst forest fire in the history of our region,” said Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Madrid’s regional leader, adding that it was “an unprecedented situation: a perfect storm of extremely high temperatures and incessant winds.”
Scientists say climate disruption is triggering more frequent and more extreme weather events, evaporating lands and waterways, fueling wildfires and causing thousands of excess deaths. Europe is warming at nearly twice the global average.
You can read the full report by my colleagues in France and Spain, Jon Henley and Sam Jones, here:
We will bring you the latest updates throughout the days…
