Wildfires in Southern Europe: Fires near Thessaloniki and in southern France out of control

According to the fire service, more than 150 responders, dozens of vehicles, and two firefighting aircraft were deployed against the wildfire. Reports indicated that the flames also approached residential homes in Oreokastro. The Greek authorities subsequently ordered evacuations.

Due to the potentially toxic smoke, authorities urged residents to keep windows closed and to limit their time outdoors. Media reports indicated that thick smoke, which may be hazardous to health, was also drifting over parts of Thessaloniki.

Warnings for tourist areas

Several Greek regions popular with tourists were placed on Orange alert on Sunday due to high temperatures and strong winds because of a "very high" risk of wildfires. Affected areas included the greater Athens area and the holiday island of Crete.

A fierce fire was also raging on Sunday near the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece, which is popular with tourists. Southern France has been experiencing heat and drought for weeks, further aggravating the fire situation.

Wildfire in southern France

According to the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department, a hard-to-access mountainous area in Trévillach has been on fire since yesterday evening. The fire broke out the previous evening in a hard-to-access mountainous area, approximately 35 kilometers west of the city of Perpignan.

More than 580 firefighters were on site, working to contain the blaze over an area of 930 hectares. Orange alert for heat had been in effect for the department again since Saturday midday.

Residents were asked to remain reachable in case the area needed to be evacuated. No evacuation order had been issued so far.

Fires in Portugal and Spain

In Portugal, meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters continued to battle a wildfire raging in the north of the country. On Friday, the Portuguese authorities had decided to activate the European civil protection mechanism as well as bilateral agreements with Spain and Morocco for reinforcements. Spanish soldiers were deployed on Saturday to support the firefighting efforts.

Meanwhile, firefighters have partially brought under control a wildfire near the Spanish tourist region of Costa Brava. The goal is to bring the fire fully under control before the wind shifts. By Saturday morning, the flames had destroyed about 2,200 hectares of vegetation, according to the Catalan fire service.

Spain is particularly affected by the consequences of climate change. Last year, wildfires in the country destroyed nearly 400,000 hectares of vegetation, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, and eight people lost their lives. In 2017, more than a hundred people died in fires in Portugal. This news item was broadcast on 05.07.2026 on the Deutschlandfunk program. (AFP)