Closing summary
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Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes due to the risks posed by the wildfires in France and Spain.
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Nearly 260,000 people have been evacuated across France as a whole, while in Spain more than 90,000 were evacuated from regions around Madrid and Ávila.
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In positive developments this morning, fires west of Madrid were reportedly being brought under control, although the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, later spoke of “difficult hours” ahead.
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Sánchez also said there needed to be “a major public pact on the climate emergency” going forward.
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However, a new front opened up overnight near the Spanish coastal city of Valencia, where at least 15,000 people were evacuated.
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In France, which has been worst affected, authorities are battling to contain a huge wildfire near Bordeaux that has consumed an area of land four times the size of Paris, as my colleagues note in this story.
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About 55,000 people were ordered to leave villages around Bordeaux, in the Gironde region in the south-west of the country, overnight.
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Bordeaux’s mayor, Thomas Cazenave, described the Gironde blaze as being “at the gates of the metropolitan area”, between 15 and 20 miles (25 and 30km) from the city itself.
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A Bordeaux city council spokesperson said earlier that a total evacuation of the city was being considered but the mayor subsequently downplayed this possibility.
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At least 240 homes in Gironde have been totally destroyed by the wildfire which is still raging in south-west France.
You can read more on the wildfires in our latest story here. We are closing the blog now. Thanks for following along.
Spain fighting a fiery 'monster' that has created a 'massive emergency', official says of wildfire
Spain is fighting a fiery “monster” that has created a “massive emergency”, the head of Spain’s civil protection service, Virginia Barcones, told state broadcaster TVE.
“Across this national wildfire crisis, we are dealing with a perimeter of 280 kilometres encompassing 77,000 hectares (19,000 acres),” she said.
While on a visit to the municipality of Villamanta, Madrid’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso said the regional government has already begun assessing the losses suffered by “thousands of Madrid families” from the wildfires.
She said the immediate priorities are rebuilding infrastructure and providing public services for those in need.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, she has announced a €1m emergency fund for affected livestock farmers, among other measures.
A senior officer with Spain’s military emergencies unit said earlier (see this post) that major areas of the fire near Madrid had been contained, but stressed more work needed to be done before it was safe people to return to their homes.
“Significant progress has been made in the work carried out around the entire perimeter,” Lt Col Alfonso Arribas told Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE.
“Right now, we could say that the entire front is effectively contained.” A few hotspots are still being worked on, he said.
Speaking to the BBC, the EU commissioner for crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, said: “Last year, one million hectares burned during the summer and so we are expecting to face another historical, sad record because the season has started earlier in the year.”
“Forecasters are predicting, unfortunately, another heatwave so we can expect other wildfires,” she added. Numerous EU countries have been sending help to Spain and France in the form of aircraft, fire crews and vehicles.
Spain’s King Felipe has been speaking to some of those who have evacuated Madrid due to the risk of fires.
“Some have had a very bad time, some have been away from their homes for four days now, some have lost many possessions. Collectively, we have lost an incalculable amount of natural heritage,” he told reporters.
Here is some of the latest video of the wildfires burning in France and Spain:
In this insightful dispatch from Las Rozas, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent, Sam Jones, spoke to wildfire evacuees who witnessed devastating scenes as fires burnt across large areas of central Spain:
At least 240 homes in Gironde totally destroyed by wildfire in south-west France
At least 240 homes in the French department of Gironde have been totally destroyed by the wildfire which is still raging in south-west France.
Many more homes in Gironde have been damaged, a gendarme spokesperson told BFMTV.
The Gironde wildfire has spread to within 15km of the edge of Bordeaux’s outer suburban area.
Thomas Cazenave, the mayor of Bordeaux, said the fire was currently between 25km – 30km from Bordeaux itself.
The western city known for its wine industry is not currently facing any plans to evacuate, the mayor said. “There is no evacuation of Bordeaux on the cards,” he told reporters.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in wooded areas of Gironde in recent days as the wildfire continues to spread.
Cazeneuve said he had asked the government for an economic crisis plan for the area because many businesses and workers had been evacuated from areas west of Bordeaux and the tourism industry had been heavily impacted.
He said it was impossible to say when people who had been evacuated as a precaution could return to their homes. He said: “We don’t know how long this crisis will last – whether several days or several weeks.”
Updated
Firefighters in France and Spain have now been battling non-stop for more than three days, leaving them exhausted and overstretched.
Despite the news this morning that major areas affected by the Madrid wildfire have now been contained, the Spanish state meteorological office, Aemet, warned in its latest update that the risk of wildfires remains high in eastern and southern parts of Spain.
“The risk of wildfires is lessening this Sunday across much of the Iberian peninsula, but remains at very high or extreme levels in eastern and southern parts of Spain. Next week will bring warmer weather, so the risk will increase over the coming days,” it said.
In its latest update, the Madrid region’s emergency services said that 2,468 people are being supported in 15 reception centres set up across the region for those who have been evacuated from their homes due to the wildfire risk.
These centres, largely located in sport centres, offer meals, personal hygiene items and beds, which are provided by local councils or by the country’s Military Emergency Unit.
Some centres provide psychological support through social workers and psychologists, and healthcare to elderly and vulnerable people who require it.
Sky News is reporting that residents in Le Barp, south-western France, have been ordered to evacuate immediately due to a forest fire “in progress”.
Sky News correspondent Sadiya Chowdhury has seen an emergency alert, sent out by the Gironde prefecture, which reads:
“Urgent – Forest fire in progress. 1. Residents of Le Barp evacuate immediately via the south. 2. A63 motorway closed towards Bordeaux from Liposthey. 3. Evacuate via the A63 towards Bayonne.”
Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia are expected to visit the La Chopera sports centre in Villamanta, a municipality in Madrid, at around midday to meet those displaced by the wildfire.
Spanish PM says 'difficult hours' ahead in battle to contain wildfires
Speaking during a visit to the command post in Ávila on Sunday morning, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that while “difficult hours” lay ahead, there had been some good news on containing the fire.
“We’re facing some difficult hours, although it’s true that the latest update has shown that last night was very positive in terms of the fire’s evolution and efforts to control it,” he said. “We’ll see what happens today, but I’d once again like to urge people to take huge care and to stay up to date.”
Sánchez pointed out that Spain and neighbouring Portugal were experiencing the varied consequences of the climate emergency, from fires and heavy snowfalls to storms. “The entire Iberian peninsula is suffering the effects of the climate emergency in a very specific way,” he added.
The prime minister also spoke of the need for people to remain properly informed about the fires and their causes, and criticised those who are using social media to pump out hoaxes and fake news.
Over recent days, false stories have circulated on social media, claiming the fires have been intentionally started in order to clear the ground for new solar panel installations or to explore new areas for mining.
“Sadly, we’re seeing a lot of fake news during this emergency,” said Sánchez. “And all that does is create more worries and more anxiety for people.”
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Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME) is fighting three fires across the country, with 1,200 soldiers, backed by 400 vehicles, tackling blazes in Madrid, Ávila and Valencia.
The unit was also deployed in the wake of the disastrous floods in Valencia, in which more than 230 people lost their lives.
Spain’s government declared a national emergency on Thursday evening after wildfires threatened areas near the capital and in the neighbouring province of Ávila.
A national emergency, which allows central government to assume overall control of powers and responsibilities that are usually the domain of Spain’s self-governing regions, has only been declared once before, during the countrywide blackout of April 2025.
Major areas of the Madrid fire have been contained, senior military officer says
A glimmer of good news at last: major areas of the Madrid fire have now been “contained and cooled down”, according to a senior officer in Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME).
Speaking to the state broadcaster, RTVE, this morning, Lt Col Alfonso Arribas said important strides had been made in containing the blaze.
“Significant progress has been made in the work carried out around the entire perimeter,” he said.
Right now, we can say that the entire front is certainly contained. There are only a few active fire fronts that are being worked on, and today we hope that conditions will allow us to work in those areas that are still out of control. But it’s not the entire perimeter at all.
Arribas described the perimeter as wide and varied.
“There are areas that are contained and cooled down, others that are active, and others that are uneven,” he said. Arribas also said that no further evacuations were planned before midday.
According to the latest update from Spain’s environment ministry, 152,678 hectares of forest land have burned since the beginning of the year, compared with 24,133 in the same period of 2025. It also said 32 major forest fires have been recorded so far in 2026, compared with seven recorded in the same period of 2025.
The wildfire situation in France remains 'very unfavourable', interior minister says
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has said the wildfire situation in certain areas of the country was “very unfavourable” after another “tough night” battling the blazes.
In a post on X, Nuñez wrote that the fire in the Gironde region in the south-west of France became “extremely virulent and unpredictable” at the start of the night, “generating its own wind” and “spreading erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area”.
He said although the fire “calmed down somewhat” it wreaked extensive damage, with an area of 42,000 hectares burned and an additional five municipalities having to be evacuated overnight.
A total of 2,500 firefighters, including a Swiss firefighting team, 1,500 military personnel and about 1,200 police have been deployed to battle the blazes in Gironde, he said. About 55,000 people from the Gironde region have been evacuated for their safety.
In the south-west Landes region, where 3,600 hectares have already been scorched, Nuñez said “a flare-up at the front was tackled yesterday using aerial resources”, noting that “the edges remain highly active”. He said nearly 550 firefighters are mobilised and 36,000 people have been evacuated.
Similarly, in the Var region in south-east France, he said nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated as a “preventive measure” while 1,100 firefighters remain mobilised.
“Meanwhile, other ongoing fires are currently being fought across the national territory, such as in Corsica and the Hautes-Alpes,” Nuñez added.
Updated
As my colleagues note in this story, scientists say climate breakdown is triggering more frequent and more extreme weather events, evaporating soils and waterways, fuelling wildfires and leading to thousands of excess deaths. Europe is heating at about twice the global average rate.
Spain’s environment ministry has said that 32 major forest fires have been recorded so far this year, compared with seven over the same period in 2025.
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French interior minister Laurent Nuñez gave an interview with La Tribune, which was published on Sunday.
When asked why it is proving so difficult to bring the fires under control, such as the one raging in the Gironde region in France’s south-west, he said the drought, heatwaves, high winds and “abundant vegetation” experienced this year mean that fires are spreading “very quickly” when they start. “Hence the need to intervene as quickly as possible,” he said.
According to authorities, fires have kept at least 37 sections of road closed to traffic in Madrid, Ávila, Toledo, Castellón, Guadalajara, Huelva and Teruel this morning.
Bordeaux council considering total evacuation of the city if necessary
As we mentioned in the opening post, about 55,000 people were ordered to leave villages around the French city of Bordeaux overnight as the fire continues to spread.
A Bordeaux city council spokesperson has told Sky News that is “currently studying scenarios for all possible ways the fire could evolve”, including a total evacuation of the city if necessary.
Bordeaux’s mayor Thomas Cazenave described the fire as being “at the gates of the metropolitan area”.
Updated
In Spain, wildfires are continuing to burn throughout the Madrid area and the province of Ávila, near the capital, according to authorities.
The wildfires have burnt through about 24,000 hectares in the Madrid region and 21,000 hectares in Ávila, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, sparking mass evacuations.
Spain has evacuated tens of thousands of people from villages west of Madrid where extremely dry conditions have been worsened by heatwaves and strong winds.
Over 30,000 people have been evacuated from Ávila and over 15,000 in the eastern Castellón province of Spain.
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Spain has declared a national emergency, the first time the country has ever done so over a wildfire.
France’s evacuations constituted “probably” the biggest peacetime evacuation the country has ever seen, its interior minister said.
Hundreds of firefighters have worked to contain the blazes, which have been fuelled by persistent heatwaves and the climate crisis, but were still unable to stop their advance.
The French government has called in the military to help, deploying 1,500 soldiers, and has rushed 1.5m face masks to help protect people from smoke inhalation.
About 220,000 people have now been evacuated from the main forest fire raging in the south-west of France that threatens the city of Bordeaux, according to French authorities.
The latest evacuations have been in villages around Bordeaux while 60km (37 miles) of the main A63 highway from Bordeaux to the Spanish border has been closed because of the fires, regional authorities said.
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Some of the photos emerging from France and Spain paint a dramatic picture of the evolving crisis:
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Authorities in France’s Gironde region, where Bordeaux is located, issued overnight evacuation orders for five more localities including some on the city’s approaches.
Their statement said gusting winds fed the flames overnight, accelerating the spread of the fire that has been burning out of control since midweek.
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the wildfires spreading through parts of Spain and France.
Thousands crowded into emergency shelters in France and Spain on Sunday after wildfires drove more than 300,000 people to flee their homes and holiday accommodation.
France has been worst affected by the wildfires, with an approximate area of 42,000 hectares burnt by the flames.
French authorities said that more than 220,000 people have now been evacuated from the main forest fire raging in the south-west of the country.
About 55,000 people were ordered to leave villages around Bordeaux in the Gironde region during the night as flames from the wildfire spread.
In Spain, over 90,000 people have been evacuated from the regions around Madrid and Ávila, as fires continue to spread there. Spanish authorities have ordered new evacuations near Toledo, south-west of Madrid.
The interior ministry said residents of Buenaventura, Navamorcuende, Real de San Vicente, Hinojosa de San Vicente, Castillo de Bayuela, Garciotum, Nuno Gomez and Pelahustan were told to leave their homes.
On Saturday evening, Spain’s interior ministry said a man had died in a fire in Manises, in Valencia. He had been found in a car in a ravine, officials said.
The blazes have destroyed houses, displaced people on a massive scale and triggered one of the largest peacetime civilian evacuation operations ever carried out in France, with major fires still burning in both countries.
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