Wildfires in Southern Europe: Hundreds of Thousands Evacuated as New Heat Wave Intensifies the Situation

The responsible prefect Sophie Brocas declared on the evening in Lège-Cap-Ferret that the fire had been stabilized but was not yet under control. „We are fighting tree by tree,“ she said. During the night, several fire developments north of Le Porge and north of Cap-Ferret had been brought under control thanks to the deployment of firefighters, the Gironde prefecture stated. Nevertheless, the operations were in a „critical phase“.

Macron Warns of Tough Weeks

French President Emmanuel Macron warned during a visit to a crisis center for emergency services in Bordeaux: „The coming weeks will be tough.“ He spoke of the most severe wildfires in the country since the Second World War. Macron praised „the remarkable work to protect the civilian population“ and announced: „We will win this fight to protect the population.“ He also thanked Turkey for sending firefighting aircraft.

In the seaside resort of Lacanau in the Gironde, a new evacuation order was issued on Tuesday, affecting around 4,000 tourists. Thousands of vacationers had to be evacuated along the French Atlantic coast due to the threatening situation; they were instructed to take all their luggage and strictly follow the orders of the security forces. In the southern department of Landes, 15,000 people were meanwhile able to return to their homes.

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon had urgently appealed to the population on Monday morning: „We urgently ask the French not to travel to the Gironde as long as the fire is not under control.“ The president of the Gironde Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Patrick Seguin, spoke on the channel BFMTV of a severe blow to the region: „Tourism has come to a complete standstill, the season is over.“ Finance Minister Roland Lescure spoke of a „shock“ for the regional economy, which depends heavily on winegrowing and tourism.

International Assistance and Firebreaks

According to the authorities, 2,750 firefighters from all over France and several other European countries, 18 firefighting aircraft, 1,500 soldiers, and 1,440 police officers are deployed. Hundreds of emergency personnel are cutting firebreaks to prevent the fire from spreading; according to the prefecture, these firebreaks already extend over more than 103 kilometers. On Monday afternoon, two transport helicopters and one A400M transport aircraft with equipment from Germany had arrived in the crisis region.

Support is also coming from other European countries: 34 Swiss firefighters with fire engines departed from Geneva to Bordeaux on Saturday, and Switzerland additionally sent three Super Puma helicopters and 20 firefighting specialists to Corsica on Tuesday morning. EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib announced further aircraft from the European strategic reserve: „Currently, nine aircraft are deployed on site, and tomorrow there will be eleven.“

France's weather service Météo-France expects peak temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius in the southwest of the country on Wednesday. The authorities fear a significant worsening of the situation given temperatures up to 40 degrees and falling humidity. On Wednesday, weather forecasts for firefighting are expected to become „extremely unfavorable.“ Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke of a stabilized but not yet controlled situation.

Situation in Spain and Portugal

The neighboring country of Spain is also severely affected. Due to the fires in the vicinity of the capital Madrid, in the region of Ávila west of Madrid, in Toledo south of the capital, as well as near the city of Valencia in the east of the country, a total of around 100,000 people have had to be brought to safety. In Ávila, according to preliminary official estimates, an area of nearly 50,000 hectares has been destroyed; the fire there is the largest in the history of Spain since records began in 1968.

In the province of Castellón in eastern Spain, around 16,000 people had to leave their homes, of whom about 6,000 were able to return on Monday due to the slight improvement. In the regions of Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo, the fires together have destroyed nearly 80,000 hectares of forest and bushland. A total of 34 wildfires were active in Spain on Tuesday morning.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was cautiously optimistic after a meeting of the crisis committee in Madrid: „We see light at the end of the tunnel.“ The situation was gradually improving, although it remained in a „critical phase.“ Sánchez announced that the government would deploy all available resources „until the last flame,“ and warned: The denial of human-caused climate change was „the worst fuel“ in the fight against fires and the climate crisis.

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska spoke of a „positive night.“ Thanks to the enormous effort of the helpers, progress had been made in fighting the fires. The EU had announced on Monday that it would send additional firefighting aircraft to Spain. Sánchez called on citizens in the country to take all possible precautionary measures.

Health Risks and Climate Change

In Portugal, meanwhile, more than 1,000 emergency personnel are battling several wildfires with aircraft and helicopters; the fire danger is very high nationwide, except along the coasts. The toll in France for the current year is also dramatic: Since the beginning of the year, 175,000 hectares of land have already burned – six times the area destroyed in the same period last year. The burned area has already exceeded the previous record from the year 2022.

Lung specialist Mathieu Molimard from the University Hospital of Bordeaux warns of the health consequences of the smoke: „The most important protection is to avoid exposure to smoke in the first place.“ Those who must leave the house can protect themselves briefly with an FFP2 mask. Christopher Böttcher from the Center for Agricultural Meteorological Research Braunschweig of the German Weather Service stated in response to a SWR inquiry: „Increasingly longer dry phases and more intense heat waves are leading to a rising risk of wildfires in the course of climate change.“

Wildfire experts are sounding the alarm in view of the scale of the fires. Víctor Resco de Dios from the Spanish University of Lleida spoke of fires that „burn with the intensity of several atomic bombs.“ Theodore Keeping from Imperial College London stated that the fires in Spain and France were „among the most extreme we have ever experienced in Europe – both in terms of their extent and their speed of spread and the pyrocumulonimbus storms they trigger“.

Information for Travelers

Extended cancellation policies apply for travelers in the affected regions. Oliver Buttler from the Consumer Center Baden-Württemberg told SWR: „In the case of a package tour, travelers can cancel free of charge if unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances exist.“ According to a court ruling from the year 2024, an official travel warning is not necessary if sufficient other indications of a significant impairment exist – such as media reports. Karolina Wojtal from the European Consumer Center explained: „One factor, among others, is the distance between the specific holiday destination and the fire.“

The Foreign Office advises travelers to consult the French traffic service „Bison Futé“ for information on road closures and warnings, and to use online map services such as „Google Maps“ for current fire information. The state weather service „Meteo France“ provides information on the current wildfire danger. For Portugal, a map with current wildfires can be found at „Fogos.pt“.

The damage to the regional economy is enormous. Patrick Seguin, President of the Gironde Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said: „This is a severe blow to a large part of the department, which is predominantly characterized by tourism – tourism has come to a complete standstill, the season is over.“ The seaside resort of Lacanau, long a popular destination for German vacationers, has been severely hit by the evacuation. The cemetery of Cap Ferret was also damaged by the flames.