Europe’s wildfires surge 57% as France and Spain call in EU help

28 Jul 2026, 14:31 by https://euobserver.com/author/gaia-neiman/ · EUobserver

France and Spain requested help from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a solidarity response effort between all member states as well as 10 neighbouring states to respond to wildfires (Source: Zoltan Tasi)

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By Gaia Neiman,
Brussels
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Fresh data from the World Health Organization reveals that wildfires in Europe are up 57 percent since 2022, as France and Spain have invoked the EU solidarity mechanism to get assistance for deadly wildfires.

Research last week (24 July) reported that 2.2 million European hectares were destroyed by wildfires in 2025, up from 1.4 million hectares in 2022, a 57 percent increase in three years.

This increase isn’t entirely caused by the sudden surge of wildfires decimating southern Europe this summer, although Portugal and Spain reported increases of over 100 percent in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

Meanwhile, the wildfires in south-west France have taken 13 lives and evacuated over 300,000 people. In a briefing on Monday (27 July), the EU Commission spoke of 42,000 hectares of French land, as well as 80,000 in central Spain, currently burning at a rate that is out of control.

“No country can maintain alone all of the resources that are needed to tackle every possible nature or other disaster,” said commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen on Tuesday (28 July). “This is where the strength of the European system comes to play.”

France and Spain requested help from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a solidarity response effort between all member states as well as 10 neighbouring states to respond to wildfires.

By Monday, seven planes and four helicopters were being deployed in France, while six planes and three ground forest firefighting teams are being dispatched to Spain from around the region.