Mon 27 July 2026:

French President Emmanuel Macron has convened an emergency meeting of his cabinet to organize measures aimed at controlling the large-scale wildfires sweeping through the nation’s southwest, while firefighters urgently work to stop the blazes from advancing on the historic city of Bordeaux.

Forecasts that another heatwave will hit France later in the week have added to the urgency of Monday’s meeting.

Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the night, and the provincial authority of Gironde, the wine-growing region that includes Bordeaux, said the situation remained “broadly stable”.

Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said on Sunday that the fire “is still at the gates of the metropolitan area”.

At their closest point, the flames were 15km (9 miles) from metropolitan Bordeaux, which is home to about 850,000 people.

Footage of the wildfires shows scenes of widespread destruction, with thick clouds of smoke obscuring the sky and large areas of forest where the trees are engulfed by flames.

“This is a fire of a size never seen before,” said Jerome Steffe, the mayor of Cestas, a suburb just outside Bordeaux city.

Wildfires in France and Spain have caused widespread disruption, upending lives and forcing more than 300,000 people to flee their homes. The blazes come as Europe experiences record-breaking temperatures, with scientists warning that extreme heat is drying out the continent.

Europe has already experienced three heatwaves this summer, which have fuelled the wildfires. Several countries have set new temperature records.

In Spain, more than 75,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Some of the worst blazes are getting closer to Madrid but have “slowed their advance”, the regional government said on Monday.

“It looked like the apocalypse,” said 35-year-old Rocio Dominguez, who fled her house in Chapineria, west of Madrid, with her two dogs. “You couldn’t see anything. Everything was covered in ash.”

Authorities say they will begin allowing some people evacuated from Madrid to return to their homes.

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EU deploys aircraft, firefighters

The European Union has deployed firefighting aircraft, helicopters and personnel to France and Spain as wildfires continue to spread across both countries.

The assistance, mobilized through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, includes seven planes and four helicopters sent to France by the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, and Türkiye, according to a commission statement.

For Spain, the bloc has mobilized six firefighting planes from Greece, Italy and Türkiye, while Portugal has deployed 134 personnel and 41 vehicles to support firefighting efforts.

A European Commission liaison officer has also been deployed to Bordeaux to help coordinate EU assistance with French authorities.

The EU commission said firefighting teams from several European countries had already been pre-positioned in France and Spain ahead of the wildfire season as part of the EU’s preparedness measures, allowing them to respond immediately after the fires broke out.

Europe is battling a wave of devastating wildfires, particularly in France, Spain, and Greece, as soaring temperatures fuel multiple blazes across the continent.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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