Spain’s government has declared a national emergency after wildfires forced the evacuation of some 10,000 people in the central region of Madrid, while in southern France tens of thousands fled their homes to escape two major blazes.
The national emergency in Spain means that the nation’s interior ministry, which controls police and security forces, has taken charge of overseeing the firefighting efforts by Spain’s regions as they struggle to battle multiple blazes that are being fanned by a heatwave.
The regional government of Madrid, which spans a wide area around the capital city, said 10,000 people had been evacuated from different villages as multiple fires raged out of control late on Thursday.
Spain has seen an estimated 500 square miles already burned this year, more than four times the amount of terrain that was burned through the first half of 2025.
This year’s fires include Spain’s second-largest ever fire that consumed some 120 square miles in recent days in the province of Guadalajara north of Madrid. Thirteen people were also killed in a fire in southern Spain earlier this month, the deadliest fire in recent memory for Spain.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez called for a pact between political parties to fight climate change that he said is key to adapting to a more fire-prone climate.
Temperatures are expected to top 39C in parts of south-eastern Spain, including a high of 44C.
Authorities in south-western France ordered more mass evacuations on the Atlantic coast because of large wildfires. An estimated 40,000 people have been driven from their homes over the past two days in the region.
More than 34 square miles have been burned by the blaze that has been raging since Wednesday near the touristic Cap Ferret peninsula. Some people were forced to flee by boat.
France requested the activation of the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
French president Emmanuel Macron said: “We will soon be able to rely on reinforcements including two Croatian Canadair firefighting aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.”
Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as quickly as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing severe heat waves across Europe.
Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness especially in south-eastern Europe, making the region more vulnerable to health impacts and wildfires.
