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France orders evacuation of Cap Ferret peninsula as thousands flee wildfires
Jakub Krupa
Thousands of people have been forced to flee parts of south-west France amid worsening wildfires that prompted the authorities to order people to evacuate from the Cap Ferret peninsula along the Atlantic coast.
Evacuees have been told to leave the area before 10am, using hundreds of mobilised boats or the only road linking the area with the mainland.
More than 10,000 hectares are affected by the two concurrent wildfires, which last night crossed the firebreak established by firefighters.
The French authorities formally requested the activation of the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism to tap into the bloc’s resources as they battle the fires, with Emmanuel Macron saying the situation remained “very intense.”
The EU’s crisis commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, confirmed that “following France’s activation of the EU’s civil protection mechanism, the EU is providing assistance and deploying 3 water bomber aircraft.”
Dangerous situation is also unfolding in Spain, with the Spanish government declaring a national emergency over wildfires near Madrid and Avila, forcing more than 10,000 people to evacuate.
I will bring you all the updates here.
It’s Friday, 24 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Two wildfires near Madrid merged and formed a single blaze, authorities warn
Dramatic satellite picture shows scale of wildfires in Spain
EU to deploy four planes to Spain, three to France to assist local firefighters
Two wildfires west of Madrid on the verge of merging, official warns
Spanish firefighters battle to prevent ‘convergence’ of blazes, minister says
France conducts total evacuation of Cap Ferret peninsula as wildfire spreads
Declaration of national emergency in Spain is a big deal – snap analysis
South-east of France also hit by wildfires with 25 houses destroyed
Over 110,000 hectares of land burned by forest fires in 2026, Spanish authorities say
‘We are living through a dramatic situation,’ Spain’s Sánchez says on wildfires in Spain, France
‘Extreme’ fire danger around Spain as authorities seek help in battling wildfires
Spain requests support through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism as it battles wildfires
Romania shoots down drone breaching its airspace, and explosions reported in Kyiv – monitoring
Evacuation of Cap Ferret in France – in pictures
40,000 people ‘evacuated or being evacuated’ in French wildfire in Gironde, minister says
France orders evacuation of Cap Ferret peninsula as thousands flee wildfires
At least 19,000 people in the Madrid region have been evacuated or ordered to remain in their houses, the head of the regional’s government, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said.
Wildfires around the Spanish capital are the worst in the region’s history, she told reporters, adding that the flames had ravaged some 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres).
More than 430 elderly people and disabled have been evacuated from five care homes in the region.
Two wildfires near Madrid merged and formed a single blaze, authorities warn
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Meanwhile, the Spanish emergency services warned that the two wildfires near Madrid “have now merged, forming a single blaze.”
The civil protection emergency coordination centre has sent a mobile phone alert to people in the municipalities of Chapinería, Navas del Rey, and Colmenar del Arroyo, ordering their evacuation.
“They should head to the following reception points: Navalcarnero, Móstoles, Alcorcón, Leganés, Brunete, Villanueva de la Cañada, Villaviciosa de Odón, and Las Rozas.”
The coordination centre has also requested the lockdown of the municipalities of San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Pelayos de la Presa. A level 3 national emergency declaration remains in place.
Dramatic satellite picture shows scale of wildfires in Spain
This satellite picture, posted last night by the Spanish state meteorological office, Aemet, is quite dramatic.
It shows the smoke plumes from the fires in Madrid and Ávila:
EU to deploy four planes to Spain, three to France to assist local firefighters
Earlier today, the European Commission said it was following the situation in France and Spain with “great concern,” deploying its firefighting planes under the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
The EU has a fleet of 22 planes and five helicopters ready to deploy, alongside over 700 firefighters “pre-positioned” across the key risk areas.
Four firefighting planes will be sent to help in Spain, and three to France, it said.
“We obviously hope that all hell will not break loose but we are preparing for a severe situation given that we will be seeing these extreme weather events more frequently, and they will be harshed and more brutal,” EU spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Forest fires in the area near the Spanish capital are nothing new.
Last year, a blaze hit Tres Cantos and Soto de Viñuelas, half an hour’s drive north of the city, killing one man, devouring 1,000 hectares of land and forcing the evacuation of dozens of people.
Here’s a piece I wrote about the fire’s aftermath.
Two wildfires west of Madrid on the verge of merging, official warns
Two of three wildfires raging west of Madrid are “on the verge of merging“ into a single blaze, the regional government’s representative in Madrid said on Friday, warning that the fire was “out of control”, AFP reported.
“Two fires, the one in San Martin and the one in Villa del Prado, are on the verge of merging and becoming a single blaze advancing towards Navas del Rey,” Francisco Martin told reporters, adding that further villages in the area were being evacuated.
Sam Jones
in Madrid
More evacuation orders have been issued for the Madrid municipalities of Chapinería, Navas del Rey, and Colmenar del Arroyo.
Spanish firefighters battle to prevent ‘convergence’ of blazes, minister says
The main priority for firefighters tackling wildfires raging in villages around Madrid is to prevent the “convergence” of the blazes, Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters on Friday.
The authorities were dealing with an “unfavourable situation” due to strong wind gusts of more than 50 kilometres (30 miles) per hour, low humidity and high temperatures, he added in comments reported by AFP and made during a visit to the emergency command centre in the village of Cenicientos.
Several municipalities remained under confinement orders on Friday, AFP noted.
More than 430 elderly people and people with disabilities from five care homes were among the evacuated, the regional government of Madrid said in a statement.
France conducts total evacuation of Cap Ferret peninsula as wildfire spreads
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
Authorities in south-western France have ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast by land and sea as an “intense and highly unpredictable” wildfire advances on one of the country’s best-known holiday spots.
The fire had burned more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) by Friday morning, the French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said, with 40,000 people already or about to be evacuated, including thousands of tourists from campsites and rental homes.
Boats began ferrying holidaymakers and residents off four piers on the peninsula early on Thursday after the Gironde prefecture ordered its progressive evacuation, “village by village”, by sea or by the only road linking the area with the mainland.
Brutal heat, as climate breakdown triggers more frequent and extreme weather events – causing thousands of excess deaths, evaporating soils and fuelling wildfires – has also prompted Spain to declare a national emergency, with blazes burning out of control.
Declaration of national emergency in Spain is a big deal – snap analysis
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Worth stressing that the declaration of a national emergency in Spain is a big deal.
The move – which allows the central government to assume overall control of powers and responsibilities that are usually the domain of Spain’s self-governing regions – has only happened once before, which was during the nationwide blackout in April 2025.
Spain’s regional governments are sometimes reluctant to cede their powers to the central government when emergencies occur.
The deadly floods that hit Valencia at the end of October 2024, killing more than 230 people, were classified as a level 2 emergency, meaning that the regional government was in charge of the response effort.
Had the disaster been declared a level 3 emergency at the request of the Valencian government, then the central government would have stepped in – as has happened with the current wildfires.
