More than 80,000 people flee as wildfires spread in south-west France and Spain

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Key context: <p>‘Unpredictable’ blaze forces evacuation of French holiday spot Cap Ferret and Spain declares emergency as fires merge near Madrid</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/24/france-spain-wildfires-cap-ferret-europe-latest-news-updates">Europe live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>More than 80,000 people have fled huge wildfires in Spain and France as Madrid declared a national emergency and French authorities ordered the total evacuation, by land and sea, of one of the country’s best-known holiday spots.</p><p>Authorities in south-west France ordered the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast evacuated “village by village” in the face of an “intense, highly unpredictable” wildfire that has burned through more than 12,500 hectares (30,900 acres) of forest.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/24/france-evacuation-cap-ferret-peninsula-wildfire">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.