France and Spain race to curb wildfires before new heatwave arrives

Firefighters sought on Monday to take advantage of more favourable weather to subdue massive wildfires threatening the French city and tourist region of Bordeaux and a number of sites in neighbouring Spain.

They were racing against the clock as another heatwave is expected to hit both countries later this week in what has been a blisteringly hot and dry summer across western Europe.

Authorities have evacuated about 220,000 people, including holidaymakers and ‌local residents, in France, while further south in Spain around 100,000 have been told to leave their homes or seek shelter.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the country was going through an “unprecedented fire season”, with the area burned already having surpassed the previous record year of 2022.

“The fight against wildfires begins with prevention. Nine out of 10 fires are human-caused and most arise from carelessness: a cigarette butt, a barbecue, work carried out without precaution,” he wrote on social media.

Firefighters faced an especially dangerous situation in Vall d’Uixo, in the eastern Castellon province, where the ground contains old ordnance from the Spanish Civil War that explodes when the flames reach the area, Chevi Bolumar, fire chief of the Valencian regional government, told ⁠public broadcaster TVE.