Thousands flee wildfires in southern Europe
Lège-Cap-Ferret, France
Firefighters operate next to flames at a residential area during a wildfire near Lege Cap Ferret, southwestern France on July 23, 2026. (AFP)
Luggage-clad residents and tourists fled a French peninsula by boat, and the smell of smoke drifted into parts of Madrid on July 24 as wildfires swept through parts of Western Europe, triggering states of emergencies and calls for EU help.
In France, fires raging near the country's prized wine country of Bordeaux forced hundreds of people to flee the Cap Ferret peninsula in the middle of the summer vacation season as the blaze devoured an area nearly twice the size of Manhattan.
