Bordeaux, France. Firefighters battled major wildfires near Bordeaux on Monday as crews in Spain struggled to contain forest blazes that have raged since last week following a hot and dry summer in Western Europe.
About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, while more than 75,000 have been told to leave their homes in Spain and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, authorities said over the weekend.
Fires approach Bordeaux
The French fires, which began near the Atlantic coast last week, were about 15 kilometres from entry points to Bordeaux’s main metropolitan area.
“This is a fire of a size never seen before,” Jerome Steffe, mayor of Cestas, a suburb outside Bordeaux, said on Monday.
Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the fires had dealt a shock to the regional economy. The area is a centre of French wine production and tourism.
“It’s like a clap of thunder for an area which could have done without this,” Lescure told reporters.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government was due to discuss the wildfire situation at a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Blazes in Spain
In Spain, fires were burning in the central provinces of Madrid, Avila and Toledo.
More than 50,000 hectares of countryside have been devastated in Avila, making it Spain’s largest wildfire in recent history, according to Environment Minister Sara Aagesen.
A separate fire in the eastern province of Castellon has burned more than 6,500 hectares, regional authorities said.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government would declare a civil protection emergency on Tuesday for the central provinces affected by the fires, unlocking additional recovery funding.