Record Wildfires Raging in France, Spain, Threaten Major Cities, Famed Vineyards

Wildfires raging in France and Spain have reached never-before-seen levels, officials said Saturday, forcing the evacuation of a quarter-million residents and tourists in the two countries and threatening the storied vineyards of France’s Bordeaux wine region.France has ordered 197,000 persons to flee in what its interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, described as “probably” the biggest peacetime evacuation in French history. About 70,000 persons have been forced from their homes in central Spain, where the government has declared a national emergency — something it has never done before because of wildfires. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said the fire in the southwestern province centered on Bordeaux is so strong it is generating its own winds. “The fires that are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before,” he wrote on X before convening an emergency meeting of senior government officials.Centered along the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux and reaching into the city’s western suburbs, the fires in France have consumed more than 240,000 acres since Tuesday, a figure described by Mr. Nuñez as a historic record.Among the affected areas is the exclusive resort region of Cap Ferret, where British tourist Zac Morrison described making a panicky retreat with his family after receiving four evacuation warnings, including one from gendarmerie going door to door.“We moved away from one fire to only get put into the crosshairs of another,” he told the British Broadcasting Corp. He said his family was able to find shelter with a relative but that others were sleeping in schools and warehouses. “There’s people on the beach here with their suitcases.”No severe damage has yet been reported to the region’s famed wine estates but in some cases the flames are lapping up against the vineyards, which are serving in places as firebreaks. At least half a dozen countries have sent aircraft and firefighters to help battle the flames, which have forced officials to shorten the annual Tour de France bicycle race.In Spain, about 111,000 acres were ablaze near Madrid and in the neighboring Ávila province after three fires merged into a huge single conflagration on Friday, with flames reaching as close as 30 miles from the capital and sending smoke and ash over the city.Residents spend the night at a sports center after being evacuated from their homes in Ávila province, Spain, on July 24, 2026. Manu Fernandez/APMajor highways leading west and northwest out of the city have been closed to all but emergency vehicles. “It is an unprecedented situation, unlike anything we have seen before,” Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said at a Saturday news conference.“We are going to have some complex hours ahead because, although the temperatures have gone down, we do not know exactly how the wind will develop, how strong it will be,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was quoted as saying on Saturday. “Our priority, our thinking, our aim is for your lives, to save your lives and protect inhabited areas.” The fires are blamed in part on hot, dry conditions across Western Europe, which has already seen three record-breaking heat waves in this summer. Climate scientists say temperatures in the region have been rising twice as quickly as the global average.Similar hot dry conditions across central and western North America have been blamed for wildfires in Canada that have sent thick smoke clouds drifting across the eastern United States, turning skies dark as far away as New York City.High temperatures are also contributing to unusually heavy fire seasons in the Pacific Northwest, North Africa, and Argentina. Globally, 2026 is on track to be the third hottest year on record.

Record Wildfires Raging in France, Spain, Threaten Major Cities, Famed Vineyards

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