France and Spain tap EU rescue fleet as wildfires displace 50,000
France and Spain have activated the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism as massive wildfires ravage both nations, displacing tens of thousands and straining continental emergency resources.
France has ordered the evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, telling residents to leave by 10am via hundreds of boats or the only road linking the area to the mainland. The directive comes as two concurrent wildfires in the Gironde region crossed established firebreaks overnight. Emmanuel Macron said the situation remained "very intense."
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said the largest fire, which started in Somos, has burned more than 10,000 hectares and is "currently not under control." A second significant blaze near Biscarrosse has destroyed over 2,500 hectares. In total, 40,000 people have been or are being evacuated from the Gironde area, with around 1,000 firefighters battling the main blaze and more than 700 tackling the second.
The mass displacement disrupts local economic life across the affected regions. France has now seen over 50,000 hectares burned since the start of the year, a toll that underscores the growing strain on national emergency infrastructure.
Unable to contain the blazes unilaterally, Paris formally requested the activation of the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism. The EU’s crisis commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, confirmed the bloc is deploying three water bomber aircraft to assist French firefighters.
Spain is facing a parallel crisis, with the government declaring a national emergency over wildfires near Madrid and Avila that have forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate. Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, noted that aid plans will be announced once the full magnitude of the disaster is known.
Pedro Sánchez said Spain and France are "living through a dramatic situation." Spain's state meteorological office warned that fire danger will remain "very high or extreme" across most of its territory today. Madrid has also requested four firefighting aircraft through the EU mechanism.
The simultaneous activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by two of the bloc's largest economies highlights an increasing reliance on shared resources. For European policymakers, the overlapping emergencies point to long-term logistical and fiscal challenges as extreme weather events outpace national response capacities.
