Tens of thousands flee forest wildfires in France and Spain
Firefighters work to extinguish flames during a wildfire in Lege-Cap-Ferret in the Gironde department, amongst worsening drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, July 24, 2026. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS Authorities ordered new mass evacuations Friday, July 24 – with some tourists escaping on boats – as wildfires raced through forests in southwest France and central Spain, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee or hole up indoors. Spain and France called in European Union help as flames whipped up by strong winds and boosted by drought tore through tinder-dry forests.
- ▪Firefighters work to extinguish flames during a wildfire in Lege-Cap-Ferret in the Gironde department, amongst worsening drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, July 24, 2026.
- ▪STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS Authorities ordered new mass evacuations Friday, July 24 – with some tourists escaping on boats – as wildfires raced through forests in southwest France and central Spain, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee
- ▪Spain and France called in European Union help as flames whipped up by strong winds and boosted by drought tore through tinder-dry forests.
6 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 4 hours. Coverage spans 2 points on the political spectrum — 1 lean left, 4 centre.
- ▪ Tens of thousands flee forest infernos in France and Spain — Channel NewsAsia
- ▪ More than 80,000 flee forest infernos in France and Spain — Phys.org
- ▪ Wildfires in France and Spain Drive Tens of Thousands From Their Homes — NYT — World
- ▪ Tens of thousands in France flee burning holiday haven — Straits Times — World
- ▪ Tens of thousands flee fires in France, blazes merge outside Madrid — ABC News (Australia)
Le Monde (EN) publishes from France and files mainly under world. We currently carry 350 of its stories.
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Firefighters work to extinguish flames during a wildfire in Lege-Cap-Ferret in the Gironde department, amongst worsening drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, July 24, 2026. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS Authorities ordered new mass evacuations Friday, July 24 – with some tourists escaping on boats – as wildfires raced through forests in southwest France and central Spain, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee or hole up indoors. Spain and France called in European Union help as flames whipped up by strong winds and boosted by drought tore through tinder-dry forests. Some 44,000 people left the up-market Cap Ferret peninsula south of Bordeaux on France's Atlantic coast, whose only road out was threatened by flames.
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