LAST UPDATE | 25 Jul

MASSIVE FOREST FIRES in south-western France and central Spain have forced the evacuation of 250,000 people. 

The Spanish interior ministry said a total of 70,000 people were evacuated from villages west of Madrid.

The latest evacuations took place in the Valle del Tietar area of Avila province west of the capital, as well as two villages in the Madrid region, journalists were told. 

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that the priority in tackling the wildfires raging west of Madrid is to “save lives”, warning that a “complex” fight lies ahead.

“Our priority, our thinking, our aim is for your lives, to save your lives and protect inhabited areas,” Sanchez told reporters in a village in the fire zone.

“We are going to have some complex hours ahead because although the temperatures have gone down, we do not know exactly how the wind will develop, how strong it will be.”

French response

Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has called a new government crisis meeting for later Saturday over wildfires in southwest France.

So far, 197,000 people have been displaced because of wildfires near Bordeaux, in southwest France.

The meeting, gathering key ministers to examine the emergency response, will be the second in as many days.

The previous one held late Friday resulted in the despatch of more troops and a military water-dumping plane to the fire-hit region near Bordeaux.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said today that the wildfires currently raging across France have burned nearly 98,000 hectares, as he described the total as a “historical record” for France.

“There are still a number of fires across the country that have not yet been brought under control,” he said, singling out major blazes in the southwestern departments of Gironde and Landes.

The threat posed by a wildfire raging in the southwestern French department of Gironde “remains very serious,” the top regional official, Sophie Brocas, said Saturday.

“We are still facing a grave situation,” she added, stating that the blaze has lost “some of its intensity thanks to lower temperatures and increased humidity.”

Tourism

Despite the unprecedented wildfires in the southwest, a French foreign minister has urged tourists not to cancel their travel plans.  

Éléonore Caroit, the minister for international partnerships, said that although France was facing an “exceptionally intense” fire season, tourists should visit as long as they remain well-informed.

Caroit told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday that “it’s more than an incident, it really is a tragedy,” stating that nearly 50,000 hectares have been burned this year.

“You have entire areas that are fine,” she said. “You’re seeing similar phenomena in Spain and other countries. I’m in Paris and nothing is happening, and most other regions are OK, so do please come to France and do not cancel your travel plans.”

“But wherever you are, please do be advised as to what might be happening.”

Help from the European Union

There are currently 32 wildfires raging in France and the French army has been deployed to assist in quenching the flames.

She also said that neighbouring European countries are stepping in to help France put out the wildfires.

“Right now, we have had the confirmation that two water bombing carriers will come from Croatia, two water tractors from Portugal, two Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Caroit urged world leaders to see the fires – which have killed two firefighters, injured 42 more and are confirmed to have destroyed around 100 homes so far – as a “wake-up call for climate change”.

“This is something we’re seeing in many parts of the world. Remember the wildfires in California, Chile. The climate is changing, we’re having a terrible impact on it,” she said.

“While leaders in the world continue to say climate change doesn’t matter, we’re seeing the concrete effects everywhere. We have to take it seriously.”

Additional reporting from AFP.