Wildfires force mass evacuations

What's happened

Since late July 2026, fast-moving wildfires have forced more than 200,000 people to flee across southwestern France and central Spain. Fires have scorched tens of thousands of hectares, pushed toward Bordeaux and areas west of Madrid, injured firefighters, prompted France to deploy soldiers and led Spain to declare a national emergency.

What's behind the headline?

What is happening now

• Wildfires are moving through the Gironde and Landes departments in southwest France and across central Spain, including areas west of Madrid. Firefighters are battling multiple fronts while authorities are evacuating towns and suburbs, including parts of Bordeaux.

Why this has escalated

• High temperatures, long-term drought and gusting winds are making the fires fast and unpredictable. Separate blazes are joining into larger fronts, which is increasing the speed of spread and the area burned.

Operational consequences

• Local fire services are being supplemented by soldiers and international water-bombing aircraft. Transport services and major roads around affected areas are being suspended and some airports are reducing services.

Human and environmental toll

• Tens of thousands of people have been displaced; hundreds of homes have burned and dozens of firefighters have been injured. Smoke is degrading air quality across wide regions, prompting mask distributions and health warnings.

Short-term outlook

• Weather forecasts indicate windows of calmer conditions will allow crews to strengthen containment, but renewed heat and wind will force further evacuation risk and will prolong the battle to control the fires.

What this will force policymakers to do

• Governments will need to scale emergency housing and medical support, accelerate distribution of protective masks, and plan for longer-term recovery for communities and vineyards that have been damaged. Expect requests for more EU and international firefighting resources.

How we got here

Successive heatwaves and prolonged drought have left forests tinder-dry in France and Spain. Strong winds have been driving flames, merging separate blazes and overwhelming local fire services, prompting EU firefighting assistance and the mobilization of military and emergency units.

Our analysis

The Independent has provided running counts of evacuees and hectares burned, noting 42,000 hectares scorched in Gironde and extensive evacuations around Bordeaux, and it quoted local officials calling the event the "fire of the century" (Independent, 28 Jul). France 24 and the Guardian reported official evacuations of Le Haillan, Eysines and Merignac and cited statements from interior and regional officials on X describing an unprecedented crisis (France 24, 25 Jul; Guardian, 25 Jul). CNBC and BBC supplied operational detail: France has mobilised soldiers and an A400M aircraft has been repurposed to drop retardant, while Spain has declared a national emergency and requested international water-bombers (CNBC, 25 Jul; BBC Business, 24 Jul). The New Arab and Al Jazeera described towns emptied, evacuations by boat on Cap Ferret and the scale of mobilised personnel; both outlets quoted local mayors and emergency chiefs describing fires as "unpredictable" and "beyond capacity" (New Arab, 26 Jul; Al Jazeera, 25 Jul). The New York Post and Times of Israel provided human-detail accounts: evacuees and tourists sheltering in exhibition centres and statements on homes destroyed and ash covering properties (New York Post, 28 Jul; Times of Israel, 25 Jul). Across these reports officials have repeatedly said the fires are being fuelled by record heat and drought and have requested EU assistance; direct quotes include Prime Minister Se9bastien Lecornu's line on X: "The fires which are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before" (multiple outlets) and Madrid emergency chief Carlos Novillo saying the blaze "is at its peak and is currently beyond the capacity of firefighters to contain" (Al Jazeera, BBC).

Go deeper

• How many hectares have burned in total across France and Spain so far?
• Which towns around Bordeaux and west of Madrid remain under evacuation orders?

More on these topics

• Bordeaux - City in France

  Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne in the Gironde department in Southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 257,804.

• Madrid - Capital of Spain

  Madrid is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.3 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.5 million.

• France - Country in Europe

  France, officially the French Republic, is a country consisting of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.

• Spain - Country

  Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula.

• Gironde - French Department

  Gironde is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2016, it had a population of 1,566,679. The famous Bordeaux wine region is in Gironde. It ha

• Emmanuel Macron - President of France

  Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is a French politician who has been President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra since 14 May 2017.

• Valencia - Municipality in Spain, capital city of the Valencian Community

  Valencia ( və-LEN-see-ə or və-LEN-sh(ee-)ə, Spanish: [baˈlenθja] ), officially València (Valencian: [vaˈlensia]), is the capital of the province and autonomous community of the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia, on the e

• Landes - French Department

  Landes is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Located on the Atlantic coast, it had a population of 405,010 as of 2016. Its prefecture is Mont-de-Marsan.

• Biscarrosse - Commune in France

  Biscarrosse is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is located 65 km southwest of Bordeaux, and 10 km inland from the seaside resort of Biscarrosse-Plage on the Atlantic coast.

• European Union

  The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its members have a combined area of 4,233,255.3 km² and an estimated total population of about 447 million.

• Italy - Country in Europe

  Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a sovereign country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands. Italy is located in south-central Europe, and is considered part of western Europe.

• Paris - Capital of France

  Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,150,271 residents as of 2020, in an area of 105 square kilometres.

• Cap Ferret - Headland in France

  Cap Ferret is a headland situated at the south end of the commune of Lège-Cap-Ferret in the Gironde department in the French southwestern Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

• World War II - War

  World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.

• Cairngorms National Park - National park in Scotland

  Cairngorms National Park is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, which was set up in 2002.

• Aberdeen - City in Scotland

  Aberdeen is a city in northeast Scotland. It is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 39th most populous built-up area, with an official 2018 population estimate of 198,880 for th

• Tour de France - Multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France

  The Tour de France is an annual men's multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours, it consists of 21 day-long stages over the course of 23 days. It has been des

• Sébastien Lecornu - Minister for Overseas France

  Sébastien Lecornu is a French politician serving as Minister of the Overseas since 2020. A member of La République En Marche! since he left The Republicans in 2017, he was President of the Departmental Council of Eure from 2015 to 2017, Secretary of Sta

• Scotland - Country of the United Kingdom

  Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96 mile border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and w

• Portugal - Country

  Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost sovereign state of mainland Europe, being bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the nor

• Czech Republic - Country in Central Europe

  The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec. The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire. During the 19th century, the Czech lands underwent significant industrialization...

• Slovakia - Country in Europe

  Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and Czech Republic to the northwest.

• World Health Organization

  The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency's governing structure and principles, states its main objective as "the attainment

• Alicante - City in Valencian Community, Spain

  Alicante or Alacant (officially: Alacant / Alicante) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. With a population of 358,608 as of 2024, it is the 2nd...

• Greece - Country in the Balkans

  Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, known also as Hellas, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018; Athens, the nation's capital, is its largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

• Hadja Lahbib - European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management

  Hadja Lahbib is a Belgian journalist, television presenter, director and politician, who has been serving as the European Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management and Commissioner for Equality since 1 December 2024.

• Fernando Grande-Marlaska - Spanish judge

  Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez is a Spanish judge. He was appointed Minister of the Interior in June 2018 by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

• Comunidad de Madrid - Autonomous community of Spain

  The Community of Madrid is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau. Its capital is the city of Madrid, which is also the capital of the country.

• Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial - Monastery and historical residence of the King of Spain

  El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spanish: Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (Spanish pronunciation: [el eskoˈɾjal]), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town..

• Tunisia - Country in North Africa

  Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, covering 163,610 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is also the northernmost point on the African continent.

• Pedro Sánchez - Prime Minister of Spain

  Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón is a Spanish politician serving as Prime Minister of Spain since 2 June 2018. On 7 January 2020, Pedro Sanchez was confirmed by the Congress of Deputies as Prime Minister with a lead of just two votes, heading the first coa

• Sicily - Italian region

  Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. It has 5 million inhabitants.

• Croatia - Country in the Balkans

  Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Southeast Europe. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Ital

• Sky News - Television channel

  Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via a radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the head of Sky News, a role he has h

• Málaga - Municipality and capital of the province of Málaga, in Spain

  Málaga ( ; Spanish: [ˈmalaɣa] ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 592,346 in 2024, it is the 2nd-largest city in Andalusia and the 6th-largest in the country. It lies in Southern Iberia on the Costa del Sol ('Coast of the Sun') of the Mediterranean, primarily on the left bank of the Guadalhorce. The urban core originally developed in the space between the Gibralfaro Hill and the Guadalmedina. Málaga's history spans about 2,800 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. According to most scholars, it was founded about 770 BC by the Phoenicians from Tyre as Malaka. From the 6th century BC the city was under the hegemony of Ancient Carthage, and from 218 BC, it was under Roman rule, economically prospering owing to garum production. In the 8th century, after a period of Visigothic and Byzantine rule, it was placed under Islamic rule. In 1487, the Crown of Castile gained control in the midst of the Granada War. In the 19th century, the city underwent a period of industrialisation followed by a decay in all socioeconomic parametres in the last third...