Hundreds of firefighters battle blazes as strong winds drive fires towards Bordeaux, and smoke prompts health warnings in Madrid.
Unrestrained wildfires in Italy, Spain and France have forced more than 250,000 people to flee, authorities from both countries have said, as they struggle to contain the blazes.
About 70,000 people were evacuated from central Spain, while 197,000 people fled in France, including tens of thousands from the wine region city of Bordeaux.
Spain declared a national emergency, the first time the country has ever done so over a wildfire. France’s evacuations constituted “probably” the biggest peacetime evacuation the country has ever seen, its interior minister said.
Hundreds of firefighters have worked to contain the blazes, which have been fuelled by persistent heatwaves and the climate crisis, but were still unable to stop their advance. In Spain, high winds were exacerbating the fires, and two of the three blazes merged on Friday.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, promised more help was on the way. “Europe stands alongside France and Spain in the face of the devastating wildfires ravaging them. Five planes and two helicopters from the rescue fleet are now deployed in France, and four planes are arriving in Spain today,” she said.
