France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, has urged firefighters battling a devastating wildfire in the country’s southwest to remain resolute, assuring them that victory is possible despite the scale of the disaster.
Speaking during a visit to the emergency coordination centre overseeing the firefighting operation on Monday, Macron praised emergency crews for their efforts to halt the blaze, which has raged since last week, forcing more than 220,000 people from their homes and consuming an area estimated to be four times the size of Paris.
“We’re facing a completely unprecedented fire,” Macron said, describing the situation as France’s worst wildfire crisis since World War II.
Fire officials told the president that the blaze had behaved unpredictably, at times creating its own weather system and developing into a powerful firestorm, making containment efforts extremely difficult.
Although firefighters succeeded in preventing the flames from advancing further towards the wine-producing city of Bordeaux on Monday, authorities warned that the danger remains far from over.
Large sections of woodland continue to smoulder, while dry conditions caused by repeated heatwaves and forecasts of even higher temperatures threaten to reignite the fire.
“The weeks ahead will be hard. We must hold firm,” Macron said.
Thousands of firefighters, supported by water-bombing aircraft and planes dropping fire retardants, have been deployed in a race to contain the inferno before temperatures climb to 35°C (95°F) and above across southwest France from Tuesday.
The wildfire has also triggered a major humanitarian response, with authorities providing shelter, food and support for hundreds of thousands of displaced residents.
Macron expressed sympathy for those affected, describing them as people “traumatized” by the disaster and “who sometimes have lost everything.”
While no additional evacuations were ordered on Monday, officials have taken steps to reduce risks ahead of France’s busy August holiday season.
Authorities in the Gironde region have suspended children’s holiday camps and camps for people with disabilities, while government ministers advised tourists to avoid travelling to the area, known for its Atlantic coastline, vineyards and vast forests.
To slow the spread of the flames, bulldozers have carved out firebreaks by clearing strips of forest and scrubland. Officials said the blaze came within 15 kilometres (10 miles) of Bordeaux’s outskirts, while local farmers assisted emergency teams by transporting water in tankers.
During the briefing, Gironde’s fire chief described the wildfire as unlike anything crews had previously encountered, explaining that it spread in multiple directions and even generated electrical storms that ignited fresh outbreaks.
“The last 24 hours went well, thanks to your work” Macron told firefighters. “Doubtless, tomorrow will be more complicated than today.”
The wildfire crisis extends beyond France, with Spain also struggling to contain multiple blazes.
Around a dozen countries have provided aircraft, helicopters and firefighting personnel to assist both nations, where more than 330,000 people have been displaced.
In Spain, major fires continue to burn around Madrid and the Valencia region, prompting the evacuation of about 79,000 residents, while another 30,000 people have been ordered to remain indoors.
The worsening fires have intensified calls for stronger climate action as soaring temperatures and prolonged heatwaves leave forests dangerously dry.
“What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.
Spain’s largest recorded wildfire is currently burning in the rural province of Ávila, west of Madrid, where officials said around 500 square kilometres (193 square miles) have been destroyed—an area roughly five times the size of Barcelona.
“Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people,” said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who has been delivering supplies to firefighters.
“We are feeling lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.
According to Spain’s Ecology Minister, Sara Aagesen, wildfires have scorched about 1,530 square kilometres (590 square miles) this year, six times more land than during the same period in 2025.
She warned that another heatwave expected from Tuesday, Spain’s fourth this year, could further worsen conditions, with temperatures forecast to exceed 40°C (104°F).
Meanwhile, Italy is also battling wildfires. A blaze driven by strong winds erupted on Sunday near Peschici in the southern Puglia region, destroying pine forests and scrubland and forcing approximately 300 tourists to evacuate beaches and campsites.
Italy’s Coast Guard ferried evacuees by sea to the nearby town of Vieste, where temporary shelters were established.
Three Canadair water-bombing aircraft, alongside ground crews, continued efforts to contain the fire on Monday, reviving memories of the destructive wildfires that struck the same coastal area in 2007.
