Over 250,000 Evacuated: Why Europe Is Increasingly Vulnerable to Major Wildfires
More than 250,000 residents have been evacuated due to massive wildfires sweeping across France and Spain as of Saturday (25/7/2026). In southwestern France, the flames are advancing towards the Bordeaux metropolitan area, whilst fires in Madrid and Ávila remain active and have yet to be fully brought under control.
The French Gendarmerie Nationale recorded nearly 197,000 people evacuated from the Gironde and Landes departments. In Spain, approximately 59,500 people were evacuated from Madrid and Ávila, whilst more than 28,000 others were ordered to shelter in place due to the threat of fire and thick smoke. Consequently, at least 256,500 people have been evacuated across both countries, a figure that does not yet include all residents ordered to flee from new fires in other Spanish regions.
On Saturday evening, the Spanish government extended the declaration of a national emergency to the province of Toledo. The status had previously been applied to the Madrid region and Ávila province, which are the centres of the two largest fire complexes in central Spain. The Madrid and Ávila fires have affected around 45,000 hectares. Three initially separate fire fronts in Madrid have merged into a single massive blaze covering approximately 24,000 hectares, whilst the Burgohondo fire in Ávila has affected around 21,000 hectares.
The Madrid and Ávila fires have not yet physically merged. The distance between the two fronts on Saturday was estimated at around 15 kilometres. However, the government is treating them as a single operation so that the deployment of military units, firefighters, aircraft, and civilian evacuations can be coordinated under one command. Lieutenant General Francisco Javier Marcos Izquierdo, head of Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME), stated that the fires have not yet been controlled, although operational coordination is believed to have contained the spread in several areas. “The fire is not under control, but the situation is under control,” Marcos said, adding that the fire perimeter has been identified but is not yet secure enough to be declared safe.
In France, two major fires have ravaged more than 35,000 hectares in Gironde and Landes. The fire that started near Saumos in Gironde has spread to over 32,000 hectares, whilst the Biscarrosse fire in Landes has affected at least 3,000 hectares. The flames are moving eastwards and approaching the Bordeaux metropolitan area. Authorities ordered evacuations in Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Martignas-sur-Jalle, Saint-Jean-d’Illac, Le Haillan, Eysines, and the outer parts of the Mérignac ring road. More than 1,200 gendarmerie personnel were deployed to assist with evacuations and secure abandoned areas. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the fire front was about 30 kilometres from Bordeaux. The government urged people to avoid travelling by road and rail to the affected areas. Bordeaux Airport remains operational, but some bus and train services to the airport have been disrupted. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the situation as something the country had never faced before.