Wildfires are raging across south-western France and Spain, forcing mass evacuations, claiming lives, and overwhelming emergency services. With roughly 30 fires active across France alone and a state of emergency declared in Spain, the scale of destruction is being described as historically unprecedented. Officials warn the worst may not be over.<\/p>\n
According to France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez, 98,000 hectares have burned across the country since the beginning of 2026. Around 250,000 people have been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions, with the government describing the crisis as totally unprecedented.<\/p>\n
Spain declared a state of emergency as wildfires spread near Madrid and \u00c1vila. According to Spain’s interior ministry, nearly 60,000 people were evacuated while more than 28,000 remained confined to their homes. According to the BBC, Madrid’s regional president Isabel D\u00edaz Ayuso called it the worst fire in the history of the region.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Val\u00e8ncia confirmed the death of a man believed to be in his 70s, found dead in his car by firefighters while extinguishing a wildfire in Manises, according to local media reports.<\/p>\n
According to Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez, 130,000 hectares had already burned in Spain this year, exceeding the country’s annual average of 100,000 hectares over the last decade, as per the BBC. France has separately recorded 98,000 hectares burned since January.<\/p>\n
Yes. In Italy, reportedly more than 350 fires broke out in Sicily. In Scotland, emergency services declared a major incident over a wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park that had been burning for 10 days.<\/p>\n
France received water bombers from Croatia and Portugal, helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and 40 firefighters from Romania. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed 11 planes and helicopters had been deployed across France and Spain from the EU’s firefighting fleet.<\/p>\n
Based on BBC reporting, the EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib has said that wildfire damage across Europe is likely to surpass all previous records, with forecasters predicting another heatwave and further outbreaks highly likely.<\/p>\n
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