Firefighters battle wildfire as tens of thousands evacuated near Bordeaux
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- French firefighters are battling wildfires near Bordeaux that have forced the evacuation of about 55,000 people from villages south of the city in the Gironde region, with 42,000 hectares burned in southwest France since the start of the blazes.
- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the situation remained "very unfavourable" and the fire was "moving erratically" toward Bordeaux, adding that 115,000 hectares have burned across France since the start of the year.
- The Gironde firefighting operation involves 2,500 firefighters (including a Swiss team), 1,500 military personnel, and nearly 1,200 police and gendarmes, while 60km of the A63 motorway to Spain has been closed.
- Le Porge, a coastal town of 3,500 inhabitants, has lost more than 150 houses; Captain Nicolas Braz said the fire created "its own winds — complete with whirlwinds," making it "erratic and unmanageable."
- In Spain, more than 90,000 people have been evacuated from regions around Madrid and Ávila, with 77,000 hectares affected and the Ávila fire described as the largest in the country's recent history.
- One civilian was killed in a smaller fire in the Valencia region, where a new front also opened near the coastal city; Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for "a major public pact on the climate emergency."
- Transport disruptions include the Tour de France final stage being shortened from 133km to 89km to redeploy security forces, and Bordeaux Airport delays or cancellations affecting all commercial flights from late afternoon onward.
Why it matters: France has burned 115,000 hectares since January — among the largest fires since World War Two — killing two firefighters and triggering a deployment of 4,000+ military and emergency personnel, while Spain's simultaneous evacuations exceed 90,000 and the Ávila blaze is now the country's largest on record, straining Europe's firefighting capacity across two nations at once.
