Thousands of firefighters are battling fast-moving wildfires spreading across Spain and France as extreme heat and strong winds forced more than 300,000 people to evacuate or shelter in place near Madrid, Valencia and Bordeaux.
Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said fires burned about 20,000 hectares over the past 24 hours, with more than 105,000 people affected and two deaths reported so far. France evacuated more than 220,000 people in the Gironde region and mobilized 1,500 troops as roughly 30 fires spread near Bordeaux.
FRANCE: France has evacuated more than 220,000 people as the country’s largest wildfire continues to spread across the southwest, threatening Bordeaux. Officials said the blaze in Gironde has become so intense that it is generating its own winds. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez…
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 26, 2026
Europe is burning. France + Spain: 250,000+ people evacuated this weekend alone. France: 98,000 hectares destroyed, a new national record. Worst wildfire crisis in the country’s history.
— France Safety Travel (@francesafetytra) July 26,
Even the Tour de France had to cut its final stage. When wildfires cancel the Tour de… pic.twitter.com/DOXFbJj8bZ
