300,000 Flee as Wildfires Rage Across France and Spain
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- France and Spain have forced more than 300,000 people to flee wildfires, with France alone evacuating around 250,000 in the Gironde and Landes regions as strong winds push flames toward Bordeaux.
- France has mobilized its military to help fight the blazes, with President Emmanuel Macron pledging the country will "rebuild," while around 30 fires rage — a situation the government called "totally unprecedented."
- Spain declared a state of emergency as fires near Madrid continue, with Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso calling it the "worst fire in the history of the region"; 130,000 hectares have burned this year versus a decade-long annual average of 100,000.
- The Tour de France shortened its final leg from 133km to 89km so security forces could be redeployed to wildfire-affected areas.
- A man in his 70s was found dead in his car by firefighters extinguishing a blaze in the Salt de l'Aigua ravine in Manises, Spain — the first confirmed fatality in the crisis.
- EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib warned wildfire damage will surpass last year's record of one million hectares burned, noting fires started earlier in the year (the Netherlands activated EU civil protection in April) and another heatwave is forecast.
- France is receiving international reinforcements — three Canadairs from Croatia, two Air Tractors from Portugal, Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and a 40-member Romanian forest fire team — as part of an EU-wide mobilization.
Why it matters: France and Spain are battling simultaneous wildfire crises that have already scorched 228,000 hectares — 130,000 in Spain (above its decade average of 100,000) and 98,000 in France in 2026 — and triggered EU-wide emergency resource sharing, military mobilization, and even a shortened Tour de France route.
