Climate News

Wildfires in France and Spain force more than 325,000 people from their homes

Wildfires in southwestern France and central and eastern Spain forced more than 325,000 people from their homes over the weekend of 25–26 July. Al Jazeera reported that about 250,000 people had been evacuated in France and more than 75,000 in Spain, with about 30,000 more told to shelter in place. In France's Gironde region, a blaze that burned 42,000 hectares, an area four times the size of Paris, destroyed at least 240 homes and injured 84 firefighters. Bordeaux's mayor said the fire was "at the gates of the metropolitan area", about 15km away.

In Spain, more than 45,000 hectares burned in Avila, Madrid and Toledo, and a man was killed in Manises, near Valencia. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said more than 150,000 hectares had burned in Spain since January, six times the area burned in the same period last year. French firefighters reported a "pyrocumulonimbus", a giant fire cloud that creates its own winds and lightning.

"We still have some difficult hours ahead." — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, via Al Jazeera

How each outlet framed it

• Al Jazeera — the evacuations, the fire cloud and the EU firefighting aircraft sent to help.
• The Guardian — the weather behind the fires: an unusually wet winter, very little rain since spring and three record-breaking heatwaves, which left dried-out vegetation ready to burn.
• La Libre Belgique — the French-language view on 25 July: almost 270,000 evacuated, with a slight lull in Gironde.
• Paris Match Belgique — the Gironde fire in numbers: 42,000 hectares and 220,000 people evacuated.

Where the numbers differ: the evacuation totals rose quickly, from about 270,000 (La Libre) to 325,000 (Al Jazeera's article). An Al Jazeera video headline used 360,000.

What we don't know yet: how firefighters will cope if, as forecasters warned, another heatwave brings temperatures of 40C.