Key events
7m ago
Fire near Madrid ‘technically stabilised,’ minister says, but calls for caution
38m ago
Spain faces ‘complex’ situation with ‘three very tough days’ ahead, minister says
55m ago
Firefighters continue to tackle blazes in France, Spain – in pictures
1h ago
‘The fear is that with another heatwave, fires could start spreading again’
2h ago
EU ‘needs to focus on prevention’ as wildfires are expected to become bigger, more damaging, experts say
2h ago
EU’s crisis management team worries about difficult weeks ahead as continent battles wildfires
3h ago
Next 12 hours will be decisive to consolidate progress made in fight against wildfires, Spain’s Sánchez says
4h ago
Temperatures in high 30s, low 40s expected across France, Spain
5h ago
Firefighters continue to battle blazes in France, Spain – in pictures
5h ago
Morning opening: France and Spain brace for heatwave as they make progress battling wildfires
Fire near Madrid ‘technically stabilised,’ minister says, but calls for caution
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Grande-Marlaska also said the Sierra Oeste fire near Madrid has now been “technically stabilised,” although he cautioned that there is still lots of work to be done on fighting the blaze and preventing further flare-ups.
All evacuation and stay-at-home orders in the province of Ávila have been lifted, he said.
Updated at 09.03 EDT
Spain faces ‘complex’ situation with ‘three very tough days’ ahead, minister says
Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has warned the country faced a “complex” situation on wildfires with “three very tough days” ahead as temperatures rise once again and stronger winds risk reigniting some of the fires.
Speaking to TVE earlier today, he said the progress in current firefighting operations was “reasonably positive,” despite increasingly challenging weather conditions, with focus on air surveillance of existing fires to prevent further spread and reignitions.
Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska seen at the Forward Command Post in Navalcarnero, Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Chema Moya/EPAShare
Updated at 08.31 EDT
Firefighters continue to tackle blazes in France, Spain – in picturesFire crews are deployed to battle a wildfire near El Tiemblo, Madrid province, Spain. Photograph: Olmo Calvo/APFirefighters work to extinguish a fire burning in Le Temple, Gironde department, amid drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France. Photograph: Yves Herman/ReutersA man works to extinguish hot spots in an area burned by a wildfire near Casavieja, Ávila province, Spain. Photograph: Olmo Calvo/APFire personnel plot out strategies to fight fires in a command center near Claouey, during wildfires in southwestern France. Photograph: Emma Da Silva/APShare‘The fear is that with another heatwave, fires could start spreading again’
Jane Clinton
Jeremie Bossert, 38, a mountain leader in L’Argentière-la-Bessée, south-eastern France, said the forest and mountain in front of his village have been on fire since Monday 15 July, and while it appears to be “under control”, he fears what the next heatwave will bring.
“We watched the fire consuming our beloved mountain and forest, approaching our houses and the smoke and ashes polluting our air,” he said. “More than a hundred firefighters worked hard to slow it.”
The fire as photographed on Wednesday 22 July. Photograph: Jeremie/Guardian Community
Bossert said it is thought the fire started by lightning.
“It’s not spreading now, and it’s not as huge as it was a few days ago,” he said.
“There was more wind on Tuesday (28 July), and the fire has restarted in a few places. People had to leave their houses because of the risk of rock falls from the mountain, as the trees keeping the rocks in place have been burned down, but they are now able to return.”
He said that despite having a wet winter with heavy snowfall, this was not enough given the heatwaves.
“Since May, we have had a drought we have never seen before,” he said. “Even though it was a wet winter with lots of snow on the mountains – a record in 15 years – this drought enabled the fire to spread quickly on a mountainside that is usually relatively humid.”
“This year many trees all over the local forest have started to pine away, also related to the repetition of heatwaves since very early in the season and with little breaks. The state of the forest – which I’ve never seen in the six years I’ve been living here – made it easier for the fire to spread.”
He adds:
“Right now, we could say it [the fire] is under control. But the fear is that with the heatwave that’s coming in the next few days and the wind picking up again, it could start spreading again.”
Jeremie Bossert, a mountain leader in L’Argentière-la-Bessée, south eastern France. Photograph: Jeremie/Guardian CommunityShareEU ‘needs to focus on prevention’ as wildfires are expected to become bigger, more damaging, experts say
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
Moises Galan Santano, a wildfires expert at the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre, stressed that more needed to be done to prevent wildfires, which he said would be a task for many years.
“The [emergency] response is not only the answer. It’s the last answer. But it’s not all the answer. We need to focus on prevention.”
Municipal workers and local residents carry out cooling operations while tractors create firebreaks after a vegetation fire broke out near residential areas in Navalcarnero, Madrid. Photograph: Eugenio Rodriguez Rigo/JNA/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Officials said prevention encompassed many policies, such as early-warning systems, more animal grazing (to reduce vegetation) and changes to forest management.
Earlier this year a policy paper from the European Commission set out how European countries could better prevent and recover from wildfires that are expected to become bigger and more damaging across the continent.
It promoted measures, such as more extensive grazing, the restoration of wetlands, rivers and floodplains, better data on forest fires and raising public awareness of risky behaviour and safe evacuation.
ShareEU’s crisis management team worries about difficult weeks ahead as continent battles wildfiresJennifer Rankin
in Brussels
The European Union’s crisis-management team is expecting difficult weeks ahead, fearing a further outbreak of wildfires in Italy and Greece as the summer goes on.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire burning in Le Temple, amid drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, Gironde department, France. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
Maria Zuber, a senior official at the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre in Brussels, said the next few days will be “very difficult” for France, where firefighters are battling to contain the massive fire in the Gironde region near Bordeaux amid a spike in temperatures on Wednesday.
The ERCC is the EU’s crisis-management centre, which monitors disasters around the world and coordinates the dispatch of firefighting planes, equipment and teams to countries that have asked for help.
Speaking to reporters, Zuber said Greece had so far been spared, but “now we see it will go to Greece” and forecast an intensification of fires in Italy from early August. Her colleague, ERCC wildfires expert Moises Galan Santano, also raised concerns about Portugal.
One “new” and “worrying” factor, the ERCC sees uniting the massive fires in France and Spain is their proximity to major cities. Around 220,000 people have been evacuated in the Bordeaux region alone. Over the weekend residents in eight towns near Toledo were forced to leave their homes.
That means firefighters cannot put all their energies into extinguishing the flames, because they have to protect people and property.
Zuber said:
“A firefighter will focus on protecting people. They will focus on protecting houses, protecting a business, a company, because this is something that matters for all our society. And indeed, sometimes by focusing on that, they cannot extinguish fire, [as] they would do it if it would be just forest.
So this is new, this is worrying. And of course also, this means that we need to adapt our methods of fighting the fires.”
Authorities in the Gironde region said the blaze had not spread overnight, but rising heat and afternoon winds could revive smoldering hotspots, carry embers across firebreaks and open new fronts beyond crews’ reach, AP reported.
Firefighters check the maps during a briefing in the evacuated town of Lege-Cap-Ferret, west of Bordeaux. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images
At the command center in Lège, firefighters bent over maps spread across a car hood, tracking three danger zones: northern Cap-Ferret; the wooded corridor around Marcheprime, Cestas and Saint-Jean-d’Illac; and a military site near Martignas, where a major outbreak forced a large deployment.
PA said that nore than 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft remained mobilized, backed by crews from across France and European partners.
“We strike quickly and strike hard at any new smoke emissions,” Gironde fire commander Matthieu Jomain said.
The advance of major fires in the Landes and Var regions have been halted. That left Gironde as France’s biggest remaining wildfire battle, interior minister Laurent Nuñez said.
We are getting some heartbreaking pictures showing people returning to their homes near Madrid and finding their homes completely destroyed by the blaze.
A man skims through a book as he surveys the extensive damage in his burned-out home, which sits on a plot where he stores scrap metal, following a devastating wildfire in Pelayos de la Presa, 65 kilometers west of Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Óscar del Pozo/AFP/Getty ImagesA man is pictured at his burnt-out home following a devastating wildfire in Pelayos de la Presa, 65 kilometers west of Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty ImagesBurnt-out vehicles and twisted scrap metal amidst the rubble after a wildfire devastated the property in Pelayos de la Presa, 65 kilometers west of Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
While the situation near Madrid is gradually improving, the Spanish media are reporting that a separate fire near The Vall d’Uixó in the Castellón province is still spreading uncontrollably.
Civil Guards are seen on guard at a closed road as smoke raises from the wild fire very close to the Santa Barbara chapel at La Vall d’Uixo in Castellón, Spain. Photograph: Manuel Bruque/EPA
RTVE reported that it remains out of control after burning nearly 10,000 hectares across 81 kilometers, forcing authorities to evacuate some 10,000 people.
Updated at 06.08 EDT
Next 12 hours will be decisive to consolidate progress made in fight against wildfires, Spain’s Sánchez says
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has been speaking in the last ten minutes on his visit to a command post in Navalcarnero.
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez visits the Forward Command Post in Navalcarnero, Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Chema Moya/EPA
He said the current situation remains “favourable,” but the next 12 hours will be “decisive” in consolidating and securing the progress made by the firefighters as temperatures rise and create new risks.
Sánchez also asked those displaced by fires for trust and patience, as he said these decisions are not political, but taken on scientific advice as to when these returns are safe.
As is customary in the last few days, he also warned people against believing hoaxes and conspiracy theories spread on social media.
In Spain, thousands of people have been allowed back to their homes last night near Madrid, even as emergency services still continue to fight the blazes.
Moha Haddad put out some fire at his house after being allowed to return to it following the wildfires in Navas del Rey, in Madrid province, Spain. Photograph: Pablo Blázquez Domínguez/Getty Images
24,000 evacuees returned to the area, with another 20,000 released from stay at home orders.
More progress have been made overnight too, but local authorities urged caution as the new heatwave is set to hit the area.
“Efforts will focus on securing the perimeter, monitoring for new hotspots and cooling the areas to keep control of the fire,” a statement said.
ShareTemperatures in high 30s, low 40s expected across France, Spain
Météo-France’s weather forecast shows temperatures up to 39C near Bordeaux – just where the largest wildfire continues to blaze – 38C in Lyon, 37C in Paris and Toulouse.
Over in Spain, it will be even hotter, with Aemet expecting 42C in Pamplona, 41C in Cordova and Saragossa, 40C in Ciudad-Real and Toledo, and 37C in Madrid.
Residents walk through water mist in a shopping street as temperatures reach record highs in Bordeaux, France. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesShare
The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has delayed going on holiday and stays in Paris to manage the wildfire crisis, BFMTV reported.
Despite clear progress made in tackling the blazes, there are continuing concerns over the potential impact of the latest heatwave, starting today.
ShareFirefighters continue to battle blazes in France, Spain – in picturesThis aerial view taken from a Civil Security helicopter shows firefighting vehicles lined up along a road to suppress a wildfire near Ares, southwestern France. Photograph: Baz Ratner/AFP/Getty ImagesA volunteer uses a rake trying to help stop a wildfire from advancing in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, west of Madrid, Spain. Photograph: Manu Fernández/APA firefighting vehicle works to extinguish a fire inside a military base during a wildfire, amid drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, in Souge, Gironde, France. Photograph: Yves Herman/ReutersFirefighters continue battling a wildfire near the town of Mirabel-et-Blacons in southeastern France. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesShareMorning opening: France and Spain brace for heatwave as they make progress battling wildfires
Jakub Krupa
France and Spain are braced for the fourth heatwave of the summer to hit just as they were making progress battling destructive wildfires, with temperatures once again expected to cross into high 30s and low 40s celsius later today.
Volunteers prepare a water truck to fill tanks mounted on firefighting vehicles, near Lège-Cap-Ferret, southwestern France. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Sophie Brocas, the prefect of Gironde and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, said overnight that the fire remained contained this morning, with several flare-ups quickly brought under control.
“We will win this war,” the communications director for the French Firefighters Federation, Éric Brocardi, told broadcaster BFMTV.
But the return of high temperatures puts authorities on high alert for new potential fires. Sixty-five French departments were put on a high fire risk warning.
Over in Spain, the government’s regional representatives in Madrid are warning of “extreme” fire danger in parts of the region. But, encouragingly, the main forest fire near the capital remained stable overnight, with no significant flare-ups.
I will bring you all the updates here.
It’s Wednesday, 29 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.