JULY 27, 2026
Wildfires in France and Spain displace more than 300,000 people as heat wave approaches
Wildfires in France and Spain have forced more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes, prompting what the European Union described as one of the largest evacuation operations in Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron chaired a crisis meeting Monday, while firefighters in both countries work to contain blazes before a forecast heat wave arrives Wednesday. More than 100,000 acres have burned in France's Gironde region, threatening areas near Bordeaux, while fires near Spain's capital Madrid and in the regions of Ávila and Castellón remain active.
France's largest peacetime evacuation since World War II is under way in the Gironde region of southwestern France, where more than 220,000 residents have been displaced, according to NPR and the Associated Press. An additional 30,000-plus were evacuated elsewhere in France. Overnight into Monday the fire's advance slowed, offering the first sign of relief after the blaze burned more than 100,000 acres, according to NPR. France's Interior Ministry said total fires have swept 115,000 hectares since January — the highest annual figure in the country's modern records, the AP reported.
In Spain, more than 75,000 people have been told to leave their homes and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, Reuters reported. At least one person has died, CNN reported. Three major fires remain active: one in the Madrid region, which has burned roughly 28,000 hectares; a larger blaze in the Ávila region, which burned over 50,000 hectares and ranks among Spain's largest fires ever; and a third fire in Castellón affecting around 75,000 people, according to the AP and NPR. Spain's Minister for Ecological Transition said the 153,000 hectares burned this year is six times the amount burned through the first half of 2025, the AP reported.
Firefighters face a narrow window: Spain's national meteorology agency AEMET forecast a fourth heat wave beginning Wednesday, and authorities have roughly 24 hours to improve containment before conditions worsen, NPR reported. CNN reported that temperatures in Madrid and Bordeaux are expected to top 37–38 degrees Celsius (98–100°F) mid-week, compared to the Bordeaux seasonal average of 29°C. A French fire official told radio station RTL that the Gironde blaze could burn for "a number of weeks, likely several months," CNN reported.