Thousands crowded into emergency shelters in France and Spain on Sunday after wildfires drove more than 300,000 people to flee their homes and holiday accommodation.
Mass Evacuations in France
France has been worst affected by the wildfires, with an approximate area of 42,000 hectares burnt by the flames. French authorities said that more than 220,000 people have now been evacuated from the main forest fire raging in the south-west of the country.
About 55,000 people were ordered to leave villages around Bordeaux in the Gironde region during the night as flames from the wildfire spread.
Evacuations in Spain
In Spain, over 90,000 people have been evacuated from the regions around Madrid and Ávila, as fires continue to spread there. Spanish authorities have ordered new evacuations near Toledo, south-west of Madrid.
The interior ministry said residents of Buenaventura, Navamorcuende, Real de San Vicente, Hinojosa de San Vicente, Castillo de Bayuela, Garciotum, Nuno Gomez and Pelahustan were told to leave their homes.
On Saturday evening, Spain’s interior ministry said a man had died in a fire in Manises, in Valencia. He had been found in a car in a ravine, officials said.
The blazes have destroyed houses, displaced people on a massive scale and triggered one of the largest peacetime civilian evacuation operations ever carried out in France, with major fires still burning in both countries.
