LANTON, France/EL TIEMBLO, Spain – Temperatures were soaring again in France and Spain on July 29 in a fourth heatwave of the summer, increasing the threat from wildfires that have forced large-scale evacuations of people, scorched through forests and killed wildlife.
In Spain, weather agency AEMET said temperatures were expected to reach 40 deg C on July 29 in at least six regions on orange alert, the second-highest level.
In France, temperatures in the south-west, hit by devastating fires, were expected to rise from around 33 deg C on July 28 to peak at 42 deg C, according to Meteo France, while dry winds from the south-west in the morning and from the west in the afternoon were likely to stoke flames.
French firefighters kept a major blaze west of Bordeaux stable overnight. And near Bordeaux’s airport, which has remained open, tramway services resumed and hotels reopened. But officials warned the wildfires were far from over.
“As we speak, the situation is stable but the fire is still not under control,” firefighter commander Matthieu Jomain told reporters. “We remain vigilant of course today, considering the forecast weather conditions, with a new rise in temperatures and higher wind speeds in the afternoon.”
Meanwhile, the EU’s emergency response centre warned that Greece, Italy and Central Europe were set to face heightened wildfire risk in the coming weeks.
Deer killed by fire in Spanish forest
Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent, has endured record-breaking heatwaves in 2026, as human-driven climate change is intensifying the heat and drought that allow wildfires to spread faster.
More frequent and intense heatwaves are causing thousands of excess deaths and increasingly disrupting everyday life, from snarling road and rail travel to hindering river shipping.
Highlighting the devastation of the wildfire on the countryside and wildlife, Reuters drone footage from El Tiemblo, in Spain’s Avila province, near Madrid, showed charred deer carcasses in a forest burnt to ashes.
A Madrid resident who gave her name as Cintia was horrified by the scene in El Tiemblo, a place she has often visited. “We love this, the wildlife, everything around us. We used to bring food up for the animals because they’re from here. They belong to this land,” she said. “And look where it is today.”
Villagers try to protect their homes
The impact on the forests has been widespread. The wildfire in the Landes area west of Bordeaux, a popular tourist destination, has devastated 42,000ha of mainly pine trees.
The authorities have evacuated about 220,000 people, including holidaymakers and local residents, as the fire threatened the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, accessible by only one road. Hundreds left on specially chartered ferries.
Several companies on the outskirts of the historic city of Bordeaux closed their operations preventively as the flames came as close as 15km from the metropolitan area.
Raphael Fohanno could not believe what had happened to his parents’ house in the small beach town of Biscarrosse. “It’s a shock, thinking that just an hour earlier, I’d been in my room and everything, and now, there’s nothing left. It’s truly sad,” 18-year-old Fohanno said. His parents and sister had been evacuated by helicopter while he was out of the house.
In Lanton, also in the south-western area of France ravaged by wildfires, volunteers carrying buckets of water have been trying to help protect their village. “It’s hard, really, very hard, because we don’t have many resources. We try to help people however we can, with the little we have,” local pastry chef Jonathan Segalas-Talous, 29, said on July 28.
“We’ve lived here for years, and we want to stay. So, we do everything we can, whatever means we have to help, we use. We help.”
From July 30 onwards, danger levels in south-western France appear likely to decrease, thanks to some thunderstorms, lower temperatures and increased humidity, Meteo France said.
Four people were arrested in recent days in the area, one on suspicion of stealing jewellery from evacuated houses, two for allegedly stealing food from an evacuation centre in Bordeaux, and one for pretending to be a therapist and offering paid sessions to evacuees, police said.
Fire in Spain’s Castellon rages for fifth day
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said 10 wildfires remained active across the country, though he expressed optimism things were going in the right direction. “Right now, efforts are focused on containing the fire and cooling down affected areas, among other things, in order to prevent any possible re-ignition,” he said.
Officials said the situation had improved in the provinces of Avila and Madrid, but the blaze in eastern Castellon remained out of control after burning 10,000 hectares as weather conditions triggered several flare-ups.
Around 10,000 evacuated residents were still unable to return to their homes in Castellon. The fire’s perimeter is currently estimated at 75.5km, the regional authorities said as the fire entered its fifth day on July 29.
Meanwhile, Madrid’s emergency services said on X that the wildfire in the capital region had not spread overnight. Firefighting crews kept attempting to consolidate the fire’s perimeter and extinguish remaining hot spots to prevent it from reigniting, they added.
Evacuees from 15 towns in Madrid and Avila were beginning to return to their homes, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said late on July 28. REUTERS
