Wildfires in Spain and France force thousands to flee
About 16,000 people were evacuated from Castellon, while the Gironde blaze surpassed a previous record for burned area.
A heat wave across Europe has triggered major wildfires in Spain and France. In Castellon, in eastern Spain, a fire on Monday (27/7) burned about 8,500 hectares of land and forced around 16,000 people to evacuate. In Gironde, in southwestern France, satellite images on Tuesday (28/7) showed smoke covering residential areas as the fire continued to spread. The report said the Gironde fire has surpassed the previous record for total area burned, set in 2022. Scientists link the extreme fires in the two countries to the heat wave and climate change, which increase the risk of fast-moving fires that are harder to control.