French authorities evacuated thousands of people from suburbs near Bordeaux on Saturday as wildfires in areas around the city showed no signs of abating, the Reuters news agency reports. Sophie Brocas, who heads the local administration of La Nouvelle-Aquitaine et de la Gironde, which covers the Bordeaux region, said on X that the areas of Le Haillan, Eysines and Merignac were being cleared out. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that more than 141,000 people had so far been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions which lie close to Bordeaux, and where the wildfires first broke out this week.

“The fires which are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before,” Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday. The French army has also been drafted in to help. Official warns windy conditions could intensify Madrid wildfires Authorities in Spain said weather conditions in the early hours of this morning offer “a real opportunity” for firefighters to control the blaze, but stronger winds later today could hamper efforts and intensify the fire.

Francisco Martín, the government delegate in Madrid, said the drop in temperature, easing winds and increase in humidity meant firefighters could tackle the wildfires near the Spanish capital “with some guarantee of success”. But he warned “erratic gusts” forecast later today could make the situation “difficult”. The Madrid regional government’s emergency management chief, Carlos Novillo, told reporters yesterday that the fire was “at its peak and … currently beyond the capacity of firefighters to contain”, AFP reported.

French authorities evacuated thousands of people from suburbs near Bordeaux on Saturday as wildfires in areas around the city showed no signs of abating, the Reuters news agency reports. Sophie Brocas, who heads the local administration of La Nouvelle-Aquitaine et de la Gironde, which covers the Bordeaux region, said on X that the areas of Le Haillan, Eysines and Merignac were being cleared out. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that more than 141,000 people had so far been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions which lie close to Bordeaux, and where the wildfires first broke out this week.

“The fires which are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before,” Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday. The French army has also been drafted in to help. Spain’s government declared a national emergency on Thursday evening after wildfires threatened areas near the capital and in the neighbouring province of Ávila, leading to the evacuation or confinement of more than 63,000 people.

A national emergency, which allows central government to assume overall control of powers and responsibilities that are usually the domain of Spain’s self-governing regions, has only been declared once before, during the countrywide blackout of April 2025. The regional government of Madrid requested assistance, describing the situation as one of “extreme gravity”. It said at least four active fires could advance “beyond current extinguishing capacity”.

The fires remained uncontained on Friday. Spanish authorities said on Friday afternoon there was “very little time left” before the blaze in Madrid, already made up of two merged fires, combined with the Ávila fire.