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Massive forest fires raging across southwestern France and central Spain have forced more than 200,000 people from their homes.
A blaze near Cap Ferret, located just 37 miles from Bordeaux on France’s Atlantic coast, has consumed some 48 square miles since Wednesday and has placed the this area, known for its stunning landscapes and upmarket resorts, under severe threat.
In Spain, the government declared a national emergency for wildfires for the first time as blazes in Madrid and the nearby province of Ávila prompted the evacuation from towns west of the capital.
Dozens of firefighters have been injured, authorities said, but no deaths were reported in either France or Spain.
Firefighters work to extinguish flames during a wildfire in Lege-Cap-Ferret in the Gironde department, amongst worsening drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France. (Reuters)
Authorities also believe the cause of both fires was accidental.
Some 141,000 fled homes in the Gironde and Landes departments in France, the Interior Ministry said. In central Spain, 60,000 were forced from their homes, the Spanish Interior ministry said.
“It’s quite impressive and even frightening,” said Laurent Moretti, a resident in the town of Arès, France.
“An evacuation on this scale has never happened before. All we really hope is that the firefighters can quickly get it under control.”
Local authorities in the Gironde department said 53 homes and a campsite have been ravaged by flames, adding that 42 firefighters were injured.
Around 1,500 people who fled the peninsula arrived by sea in the city of Arcachon, some aboard small water taxis and others on larger boats.
Fiirefighters spray water in a burning forest in the Lège-Cap-Ferret region (AP)
Hundreds of French firefighters have been deployed and additional ground and aerial reinforcements were sent Friday to tackle the blaze.
Meanwhile, another major wildfire burned further south down the coast and was not contained as strong winds did not help firefighters.
French president Emmanuel Macron said France will receive EU reinforcements including two Croatian Canadair firefighting aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The national emergency in Spain means that the nation’s interior ministry, which controls police and security forces, has taken charge of overseeing the firefighting efforts that are being fanned by a heat wave, with temperatures expected to top 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) in parts of the country.
The two major fires near Madrid merged into one single blaze that had quickly charred 11.5 square miles by Friday afternoon.
Regional president Isabel Díaz-Ayuso called it the worst in Madrid’s history, while Francisco Martín, the central government representative for the region of Madrid, said that 20,000 people had been ordered to shelter at home in towns west of the capital.
Martín said more evacuations could be coming and that the priority now was to protect the town of San Lorenzo, the home of the Escorial, Philip II’s 16th-century royal palace and monastery.
Meanwhile, a blaze in Ávila, less than two hours northwest of Madrid, had consumed 34 square miles, causing another 1,500 people to flee.
Spain’s Civil Guard arrested one man and is investigating another for allegedly having used heavy machinery in an area where it was prohibited for fire risk. Police believe a spark ignited the fire on Thursday.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Cebreros area, near Avila, 80 kms west of Madrid on July 24, 2026 (AFP/Getty)
Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that Italy and Greece are each sending two Canadair water-dumping airplanes.
“In my 60 years I have never seen something like this in my village, I have never seen fire of these dimensions,” Francisco Martínez, the mayor of Burgohondo, whose residents were preventively evacuated in Ávila, told Spain’s national broadcaster TVE.
Spanish television showed video taken by retreating residents of walls of flames topped by long plumes of smoke advancing through woods and scrublands. High winds and hilly terrain complicated efforts by firefighters, who combated the blazes with firetrucks and bulldozers.
In southwest France, authorities sent boats to help the evacuation and a total of about 63,000 people, many of them tourists, were told to get out as two major, separate fires threatened homes and campsites, officials said.
“From our home, we had a view of the fires … We could see the clouds becoming darker and darker,” said Yoan Urien, who left late on Thursday after police told everyone in his neighbourhood in the town of Biscarrosse to leave.
“I was able to find somewhere to take shelter with my pets, but … it’s quite a shock,” the 26-year-old told Reuters.
Holidaymakers from Lege-Cap-Ferret disembark from a boat upon their arrival in Arcachon during an evacuation operation of the entire Cap-Ferret peninsula (AFP/Getty)
The other major fire, which began in nearby Saumos, north of Cap Ferret, is threatening to cut off the only road out of the peninsula and is the largest so far this season in France, interior minister Laurent Nunez told local television.
It has torn through more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of forest and burned 80 homes, completely destroying about 50 of them, he said.
“It’s totally apocalyptic,” said Ambre Dubos, from the nearby Landes region.
Mapped: Cap Ferret peninsula
In one week, Spain has had the worst fires on record for both the regions of Castilla La Mancha and Madrid.
Firefighters were still trying to extinguish Spain’s second-largest ever fire in the Guadalajara province of Castilla La Mancha after it had destroyed some 320 square kilometers (120 square miles) over the last week.
Thirteen people were also killed in a fire in southern Spain earlier this month, the deadliest fire in recent memory for Spain.
Smoke and flames rise as a wildfire advances near San Martin de Valdeiglesias, Ávila province, Spain. (AP)
Spanish minister for the ecological transition Sara Aagesen said that Spain has seen 1,140 square kilometres (440 square miles) already burned this year, more than five times the burned terrain it had through the first half of 2025.
Grande-Marlaska said that in addition to the major fires in Madrid and in Ávila that have required the national government to get directly involved, there are nine serious fires in other parts of Spain.
“The day has been complicated by winds that reach 50 kph (31 mph) and high temperatures,” Grande-Marlaska said.
Sánchez called on Wednesday for a pact between political parties to fight climate change that he said is key to adapting to a more fire-prone climate. Spain has experienced record temperatures in recent summers and forest fires of increasing violence.
Sicily is burning
A Canadair drops water over a burning area as a wildfire flares in Sagana in the territory of Monreale, Sicily (AFP/Getty)
In Italy, wildfires continued to ravage parts of Sicily, with the central-western province of Agrigento particularly hard hit.
Fueled by temperatures that have topped 40C (104F), low humidity and winds, the blazes have forced scattered evacuations and were blamed for the death of a firefighter responding to a fire in Caltanissetta.
Reuters