{"id":601174,"date":"2026-07-24T00:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/601174\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T00:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:41:19","slug":"wildfires-sweeping-through-parts-of-europe-force-thousands-of-people-to-flee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/601174\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildfires sweeping through parts of Europe force thousands of people to flee"},"content":{"rendered":"

WILDFIRES SWEEPING THROUGH parts of Italy, France and Spain today forced thousands of people to flee blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds.<\/p>\n

Thousands of tourists on France\u2019s southern Atlantic coast have been forced out of campsites and holiday homes while Spanish authorities ordered another town near Madrid to evacuate late Thursday because of an out-of-control forest fire.<\/p>\n

\"bordeaux-france-23rd-july-2026-photopqrsud-ouestbonnaud-guillaume-guillaume-bonnaud-bordeaux-23072026-le-23-juillet-2026en-girondeincendie-en-gironde-2-400-hectares-brules-ent\"
\n Firefighters battle fast-moving wildfire between Saumos and Le Porge in France Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n

Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n

Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures more severe heat, with temperatures topping 40C in some areas.<\/p>\n

The total area of land burnt so far this year in European Union countries is the second-largest on record, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).<\/p>\n

\"photopqrsud-ouestphoto-fabien-cottereau-lege-cap-ferret-23072026-incendies-en-girondeles-premiers-maisons-touchees-par-les-flammes-dans-lege-cap-ferret-derriere-la-salle-des-sports\"
\n Firefighters tackle wildfire Gironde, France Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n

Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n

Tourists and locals have told of desperate escapes from flames.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away \u2013 we grabbed some things and left,\u201d said Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of the French city of Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

In Sicily, around 6,000 firefighters, forest guards and civil protection officers battled dozens of fires, some raging for several days, across the Italian island. One firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames, the interior minister said.<\/p>\n

More than 160 fires have also been recorded in Calabria region, with the local civil protection chief saying arsonists had tied rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames.<\/p>\n

\"firefighters-and-local-police-are-on-the-scene-of-a-wildfire-in-rome-tuesday-july-21-2026-francesco-benvenutilapresse-via-ap\"
\n Firefighters and local police are on the scene of a wildfire in Rome Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n

Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n

Around Bordeaux, more than 20,000 people \u2013 mostly tourists in campsites and holiday lets \u2013 have been evacuated since Wednesday, as a fire ravaged a seaside pine forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines,\u201d firefighter captain Wilfried Schneider told AFP, describing a fire of \u201crare\u201d intensity.<\/p>\n

One firefighter had been injured today, witnesses said, authorities said the inferno had been contained on one flank.<\/p>\n

Two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling another blaze near Bordeaux airport.\n<\/p>\n

\u2018No chance\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were on the beach and they told us to go back to the campsite to collect our things,\u201d said Belgian tourist Elke Urbain, 50. \u201cWe\u2019re not afraid because everyone is taking care of us, but we\u2019re sad for the people here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skies over Le Porge turned orange as smoke rose from charred and crackling pine trees, while helicopters made repeated runs over evacuated neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

Fires in 2022 damaged 75,000 acres of the same forest, forcing some 50,000 people to be evacuated.<\/p>\n

\"a-person-watches-the-fire-spread-on-23-july-2026-in-san-martin-de-valdeiglesias-madrid-spain-a-new-wildfire-broke-out-on-thursday-in-the-community-of-madrid-after-a-car-caught-fire-on-the-m-501-in\"
\n Person watches fire spread in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, Madrid Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n

Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n

Fires are breaking out faster because of climate change caused by the burning of oil, coal and gas. European droughts are now more severe, climatologists from the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published today.<\/p>\n

Across the border in Spain, authorities ordered 3,500 people in a town west of Madrid to leave their homes late today because of a forest fire burning out of control.<\/p>\n

The emergency services said that alert messages had been sent to people in Aldea de Fresno ordering their \u201cevacuation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Eighteen firefighting units with specialist troops were working to contain the blaze that was close to another wildfire on Wednesday near the city of Toledo that forced the evacuation of several villages.<\/p>\n

Firefighters battled through the night and most residents were allowed to return today.<\/p>\n

\"view-of-a-thick-column-of-smoke-caused-by-a-wildfire-on-23-july-2026-in-burgohondo-avila-castile-and-leon-spain-the-regional-government-of-castile-and-leon-has-raised-the-potential-severity-index\"
\n Thick column of smoke caused by a wildfire in Burgohondo, Avila, Castile and Leon, Spain Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n

Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n

Hundreds of firefighters and troops were still struggling to contain a much larger wildfire in Guadalajara province, north of Madrid, which has burnt about 32,000 hectares since it started last Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change is what kills, what destroys our villages and our natural and cultural heritage,\u201d civil protection chief Virginia Barcones told Spanish radio, warning some fires become so intense that, despite the deployment of aircraft and ground crews, firefighters stand \u201cno chance\u201d.<\/p>\n

Barcones said conditions at the Guadalajara blaze were improving but that strong winds and extreme heat remained a danger.<\/p>\n

– \u00a9 AFP 2026<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILDFIRES SWEEPING THROUGH parts of Italy, France and Spain today forced thousands of people to flee blazes fanned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,442,1015,13,14,2220,6,254257,11,12,15,16,5,149971,383,7,8,131145,4239,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-601174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-climate-change","tag-europe","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-france","tag-headlines","tag-ialy","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-wildfire","tag-wildfires","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116972178046676554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}