Firefighters across southwestern France and central Spain are working urgently to contain massive wildfires before a forecast heatwave intensifies the danger. The blazes have already forced more than 300,000 people from their homes in what is being described as one of the largest evacuation operations in Europe in recent decades.
In the Gironde department near Bordeaux, crews managed to prevent a fire from expanding overnight, though several flare-ups were reported. The fire has consumed around 42,000 hectares over six days, destroyed 240 homes, and forced 220,000 residents to flee. President Emmanuel Macron warned that "the coming weeks will be tough and we have to hold out" after visiting the departmental fire and rescue operational center in Bordeaux on Monday.
Spain is battling blazes west of Madrid that have prompted the evacuation of roughly 60,000 people. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska described the coming hours as "absolutely decisive" as temperatures begin to climb again. The fires have burned approximately 77,000 hectares in the region—an area comparable to the size of Hamburg.
Heatwave forecast and EU response
Spain's weather agency AEMET has announced a new heatwave starting Wednesday and lasting through the end of the week, with temperatures reaching 42°C in the northeast and 39°C in central areas. Météo-France forecasts up to 40°C from Tuesday, accompanied by dry winds that could further spread the flames.
The European Union is deploying its Copernicus satellite system to monitor the fires and provide rapid mapping to emergency services. The bloc's Civil Protection Mechanism has supplied aircraft and firefighters through member states and the EU-funded rescEU reserve. However, EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib warned that resources could soon be needed elsewhere. "Extreme conditions are looming for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, in addition to France, the Iberian Peninsula... where the situation is expected to worsen, including in Portugal starting today," she said.
Since the start of the year, around 150,000 hectares have burned in Spain and 115,000 hectares in France. The cost of Spain's wildfire season has already reached billions of euros in firefighting efforts alone, highlighting the economic toll of these disasters.
The scale of the destruction has been particularly severe in the region west of Madrid, where the burned area is roughly the size of Hamburg. The EU has deployed additional water-bombing aircraft to France, but Lahbib stressed that the threat extends beyond the countries currently battling major fires.
As Europe faces another summer of extreme weather, the resilience of national and EU-level emergency systems is being tested. The coming days will be critical for France and Spain, as well as for central European nations bracing for similar conditions.
