Megafires in Southern Europe: More Than 360,000 People Flee

Symbolic image: wildfire · Photo: CC BY 2.0

⏱ 45 sec read · As of: 27 July 2026

In France and Spain, more than 360,000 people are fleeing massive wildfires – France calls it the largest peacetime evacuation since the Second World War.

Around 250,000 people have been moved to safety in France, especially in the wine region around Bordeaux. In Spain, more than 75,000 have been evacuated and another 30,000 were told to shelter in place. At least one person died in Valencia.

The cause is a dangerous chain: it is already the third consecutive heatwave that has dried out the landscape. Once the ground is this dry, a single spark can turn into a devastating fire, experts explain. High temperatures are forecast again for the coming days, with no rain in sight.

Through its Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU has sent firefighting aircraft from Greece. President Macron called a crisis meeting; Spain's Prime Minister Sánchez visited the affected areas.

In context: such megafires are no longer confined to the south – wildfire risk is rising in Germany too. And the smoke clouds drift across borders. Here the climate shows itself not as an abstract curve, but as a concrete danger.

Own synthesis based on reports from Al Jazeera, CNN, NPR and CNBC (as of 27 July 2026).

Symbolic image · Photo: "Forest Fire" (Flickr), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons