PARIS/MADRID, 26th July, 2026 (WAM) -- French firefighters continue to battle rapidly spreading wildfires in southwestern France, where more than 300,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said today that the wildfire situation in the region remains "extremely dangerous". Thomas Cazenave, Mayor of Bordeaux, said the city authorities do not currently intend to evacuate the UNESCO World Heritage-listed city but are prepared to respond to any developments.
Speaking during a visit to one of the evacuation centres, he said, "We are prepared for any emergency, and there are currently no plans to evacuate the city's approximately 270,000 residents."
He added that the fires remain concentrated south of the city and have not advanced towards the western part of the Bordeaux metropolitan area. The flames are currently between 25 and 30 kilometres from central Bordeaux and around 15 kilometres from the metropolitan area near the town of Martignas-sur-Jalle.
He noted that Martignas-sur-Jalle, home to around 8,000 residents and located on the western edge of the Bordeaux metropolitan area, had been evacuated as a precautionary measure.
In Spain, wildfires continue to spread across Madrid, Ávila, Toledo and Castellón, with the number of people affected rising to more than 121,000, while around 20,000 hectares have been burned, according to Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition.
Spanish firefighting teams, supported by aircraft from Greece, Italy and Portugal, are continuing efforts to contain the blazes.
Since the beginning of this year, wildfires across Spain have destroyed 132,000 hectares of land.