FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris, July 25, 2026. France is facing one of the most severe fire crises in its recent history. According to the Ministry of the Interior, at least 141,000 evacuations have been reported since Wednesday evening in the Southwest, including 110,000 in Gironde and 31,000 in the Landes. The French government has requested that the military "mobilize to provide maximum support to civil security," a rare gesture that reflects the magnitude of the threat to the Bordeaux metropolitan area.

The main fire, described as "unprecedented" by Gironde Prefect Sophie Brocas, has already destroyed 14,000 hectares of forest and is progressing towards Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, on the outskirts of Bordeaux. "Each resident... will receive an alert on their mobile phone giving them the starting point," she explained, describing a evacuation plan by road and sea activated at Cap Ferret, which has been planned since 2023. In the Landes, a change in wind expected by Météo-France could push the flames towards Parentis, warned Prefect Gilles Clavreul. In total, 32 fires are reported on the territory, and more than 50,000 hectares have burned since January 1, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

Faced with the magnitude of the crisis, France has activated the European civil protection mechanism; Brussels has dispatched three water bomber planes to support the approximately 800 firefighters, gendarmes, and military personnel already deployed. The French government has judged the situation "very intense".

The crisis extends beyond France's borders: in Spain, the Madrid region has declared a state of emergency after several fires merged at its gates, described as the "worst in the region's history" by President Isabel Díaz Ayuso - 19,000 people evacuated or confined, 6,000 hectares ravaged. In Italy, a firefighter died in Sicily, where dozens of fires have been reported, while Ireland and Scotland also report damage. Three firefighters have died in Southern Europe, where the thermometer has exceeded 40°C. For French authorities, this convergence of fires illustrates the lengthening of the fire season and the geographical extension of the risk, a consequence of global warming, as the crisis strikes in the midst of the summer tourist season.