France and Spain Race to Contain Wildfires Before a New Heatwave Hits

Firefighters in France and Spain worked Monday to contain major wildfires before a new heatwave is expected to hit later this week, as authorities warned that hotter and drier conditions could make the battle much harder in two countries already under strain from an intense summer fire season.

In southwestern France, the fires burning near the Atlantic coast came within about 15 kilometers, or 9.3 miles, of access points to the Bordeaux metropolitan area, according to local officials cited by Reuters. About 220,000 people, including residents and vacationers, have been evacuated in France. In Spain, around 100,000 people have been told to leave their homes or shelter in place as several large fires continue to burn.

French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Bordeaux and thanked firefighters for their work, while warning that the coming weeks would remain difficult. “We must hold on. We are going to win this battle together. The whole nation is behind you,” he said.

France’s prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, said the country was facing an unprecedented wildfire season and that the area already burned had surpassed the previous record year of 2022. He said prevention remained essential, adding that nine out of 10 fires are caused by people and often begin with carelessness such as a cigarette butt, a barbecue or work carried out without proper precautions.

The pressure is especially high because weather conditions briefly improved on Monday, giving crews a narrow window to slow the fires before temperatures rise again. France’s weather office expects highs in the Bordeaux area to reach as much as 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, later this week.

In Spain, authorities also described the next two days as critical. Three separate fire fronts remained active in the mountains northwest of Madrid, in the provinces of Madrid, Toledo and Avila. The blaze in Avila has been classified by Spanish authorities as the biggest wildfire in the country’s recent history.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said Monday and Tuesday were crucial for controlling that fire before forecasts turn significantly worse from Wednesday onward. In Castellon province, in eastern Spain, firefighters faced an added danger in Vall d’Uixo, where old ordnance from the Spanish Civil War is buried in the ground and can explode when flames reach it, according to Chevi Bolumar, fire chief for the Valencian regional government.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain was not dealing with isolated events but with a broader climate emergency that is making so-called sixth-generation fires more destructive and harder to control. Scientists have increasingly linked more frequent heatwaves and extreme fires across Europe to human-driven climate change.

The human toll has extended beyond evacuations and injuries. In France, 80 firefighters have been injured battling the blazes near Bordeaux, local officials said. In Spain, evacuees spoke of deep emotional damage as forests and landscapes burned around them. Maria Angeles Serrano, who left her home in Castellon, told public broadcaster TVE that material losses could be repaired but that what hurt most was “the emotional loss.”

For Bordeaux, the fires have also shaken a region whose economy depends heavily on tourism during the summer season. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the wildfires had delivered a shock to that tourism-based economy.

So far, Bordeaux’s most prized vineyards have not been affected by the fires, according to Christophe Chateau, communications director for the Bordeaux wine industry association CIVB. He said drought remains a bigger concern for growers than direct fire damage.

That distinction matters well beyond this week’s emergency response. Even without flames reaching top vineyard sites, prolonged drought and repeated heatwaves can affect grape development, harvest timing and yields. For a wine region that also draws visitors from around the world, wildfire threats can disrupt travel plans, weigh on local businesses and create uncertainty around production and demand in coming months.

The broader strain on emergency systems is also becoming more visible across Europe. Spain has received aircraft from Turkey, Italy and Greece, along with a Portuguese wildfire intervention team. France is being supported by Switzerland, which is sending two Super Puma helicopters and their crews after a request from Paris.

Temperature data underline how unusual conditions have become. In both Bordeaux and Avila, average high temperatures in July have been about 32 degrees Celsius, or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly 6 degrees Celsius above the normal July high recorded between 1961 and 1990, according to Reuters Climate Monitor data cited by Reuters.

Officials in both countries are now racing against time: using a short break in weather conditions to contain fires that have already forced mass evacuations and damaged local economies before another burst of extreme heat arrives.