Macron calls crisis meeting as France wildfire eases but evacuations soar

Emmanuel Macron convened a crisis meeting as wildfires forced mass evacuations across France. A slight slowing in Gironde offered hope, but rising heat and Spain's parallel fires kept the threat acute.

In Short

• More than 250,000 people left homes as French wildfires spread
• Gironde blaze remained broadly stable overnight after edging closer to Bordeaux
• Macron convened a crisis meeting and pledged long-term rebuilding support

French President Emmanuel Macron called a crisis meeting on Monday as massive wildfires in France continued to force more than 250,000 people from their homes, even as officials reported an early sign that the country’s biggest blaze may be slowing.

In neighbouring Spain too, wildfires continued to burn out of control around Madrid, while evacuations were carried out on Sunday in the Valencia region. The Spanish government said 76,000 people had been evacuated and another 30,000 had been confined to their homes.

In France’s Gironde region in the south-west, where flames have burned an area four times the size of Paris, the prefecture said the situation overnight had remained “globally stable”. That marked a change after several days in which the fire, burning since last week, had moved closer to Bordeaux, a city in the wine-growing region.

No new evacuations were announced in Gironde. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, authorities took further steps to keep visitors away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities.

Firefighters on the ground and in the air, using aircraft to drop water and fire retardant, were racing against time as they tried to contain the flames before a forecast rise in temperatures from Tuesday that could make conditions harder.

The government crisis meeting was scheduled for Monday morning with Macron presiding. In a post over the weekend on X, he promised long-term support for affected communities, saying, “We will rebuild, we will repair and we will be present for as long as necessary.”

In Spain, people who had fled the fires worried about what awaited them when they were allowed to return. “It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn't see anything. Everything was covered in ash,” said Roco Domnguez, who evacuated with her dog, Simba, from Chapinera, west of Madrid.

She said, “We don't know when we get to the town, if we'll have half the house burned down or we'll have it intact or we won't have a house. All the clothes, all the memories, everything.” As France and Spain battled the fires, officials focused on slowing the spread of the blazes and keeping people safe.

With PTI Inputs

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