Spain declared a national emergency over wildfires on Friday, and France ordered 1,000 military personnel to a blaze burning towards Bordeaux, as evacuations across the two countries ran into the hundreds of thousands.
More than 220,000 people had been moved out by early Saturday, the BBC reported. Wire copy filed on Friday put the figure above 166,000. The two counts were compiled about twelve hours apart.
In France, about 44,000 people left the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast south of Bordeaux. Some went by boat after the single road off the peninsula was threatened by flames. More than 50 houses there have been destroyed. The fire, which started near Saumos, had burned about 22,000 hectares by Friday, and a further evacuation was ordered at Biscarrosse.
President Emmanuel Macron ordered the army to mobilise. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France had not seen fires on this scale before, and that authorities would do everything to protect Bordeaux.
Spain's emergency declaration was announced by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who cited the speed of the fires, the population density in the areas affected, and hot and windy conditions. It is the first time Spain has used the declaration for a wildfire. The previous one was issued during the nationwide power blackout in 2025.
Fires that merged in the mountains west of Madrid and in Avila province displaced or confined about 60,000 people, with evacuations from towns including Navaluenga. Officials in Madrid described the fire there as the worst in the region's history. Spain has recorded 29 major fires this year, with a burned area about five times that of the same period in 2025.
Both governments requested assistance through the European Union. France received aerial support from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Spain received water-dumping aircraft from Italy and Greece.
The Gironde fire is burning through the pine plantations that separate the Atlantic coast from Bordeaux, a city ringed by the vineyards that carry its name. Spanish authorities have more than 270 emergency personnel and 40 ground units committed to the fires around Madrid.
Both emergency declarations were in force on Saturday morning European time. French authorities have not given an estimate for when the Gironde fire will be contained, and the forecast of continued hot and windy weather was the reason Spain gave for escalating its own response.
