Wildfires in France and Spain displace over 200,000, states of emergency declared

Major wildfires in France and Spain have forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes, with both countries declaring states of emergency. In southwestern France, the Gironde region has been the worst hit, with 140,000 people evacuated, including 40,000 from the area around the upmarket Atlantic resort of Cap Ferret. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has mobilised the army to help fight the flames, which have been described by officials as an 'XXL wildfire'. The fire has destroyed 38 square miles of land and is threatening the city of Bordeaux, where some outskirts have already been evacuated. Evacuees have been taken to makeshift camps in nearby Arcachon, but authorities say they do not have enough beds for everyone arriving. Many people were woken in the middle of the night and forced to flee, some by boat from the Cap Ferret peninsula as flames hemmed them in. There have been no reported deaths so far. In Spain, a national emergency has been declared for the first time in connection with wildfires. Around 25,000 people have been evacuated from areas west of Madrid, where two large fires have converged and a third may merge with them. The Madrid regional authorities have called it the worst fire in the region's history. More than 2,000 firefighters are struggling to contain the blazes, which have been fuelled by three successive heatwaves and dry desert winds from Africa. Spain has seen nearly 300,000 acres burned so far this year, compared with 62,000 by the same time last year. The extreme weather pattern, with a wet winter followed by drought and heat, has created ideal conditions for the fires. The situation remains extremely tense, with no immediate prospect of the fires being brought under control.