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Or sign-in if you have an account.France and Spain have evacuated more than 160,000 people as unprecedented forest fires ravage areas near Madrid and Bordeaux. Photo by DANIEL ABELOUS /AFP via Getty ImagesMore than 250,000 people fled towns and villages in Spain and France into the weekend as uncontrolled wildfires moved ever closer to Madrid and Bordeaux, metropolitan areas that are home to more than 8 million people combined.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAuthorities ordered the immediate evacuation of some western suburbs of Bordeaux, a city in southwestern France famed for its wines, in an area that includes the regional airport.Some 197,000 people were evacuated in the Gironde and surrounding areas, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said at a press conference in Paris. As of Saturday, almost 98,000 hectares (242,000 acres) of land have been scorched in the blazes, a record in France, he said.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againWhile increased humidity overnight means the conflagration in Gironde is no longer convective, or generating its own winds, the effort to get it under control “will be long and very difficult,” Nunez said.The French government ordered more than 1,000 military personnel to support firefighters, Nunez said, adding that an Airbus A400M military transport plane will join Canadairs and other aircraft helping contain the fires in the coming hours.Evacuees have in many cases been taken to municipal sports centers as a precautionary measure, mostly to avoid exposure to heavy smoke, which travels faster than flames.In Spain, another 30,000 people were evacuated across Ávila province and the region west of Madrid, after 63,000 were evacuated or told to stay indoors as of Friday night. Authorities expect two separate fires raging there to merge at some point.The municipal government in Madrid closed off parts of the city’s main parks, telling people to keep away from trees as strong winds were forecast. No casualties have been reported so far.“Our priority, our thinking, our aim, is for your lives, to save your lives and protect inhabited areas,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said at a press conference in the village of Cenicientos, in the fire zone about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital. Unpredictable winds mean “we’re going to have a challenging few hours,” he said.Madrid’s air-quality monitoring system recorded a sharp deterioration in the city’s west on Saturday morning, with the smell of smoke hanging in the air near the Royal Palace in central Madrid.France and Spain have been at the epicenter of Europe’s wildfire season, which started earlier than normal and accelerated in recent weeks as successive heat waves baked vegetation, making it easier for flames to spread rapidly. Before the weekend, fires had burned more than 329,000 hectares across the continent, destroying crops and disrupting transport.Fires that have ravaged the southwestern corner of the Madrid region, burning more than 9,000 hectares in their path, remained active and uncontrolled on Saturday, officials said. After reaching their most intense point on Friday afternoon, what had been three separate fronts merged into a single blaze that continued to spread in what regional authorities described as “beyond control capacity.”Fires in Spain have so far passed through a NASA complex in Robledo de Chavela — one of three NASA Deep Space Network sites in the world — and a 12th century monastery in Pelayos de la Presa, next to where one of the fires originated. The blaze is now heading toward the towns of El Escorial and San Lorenzo de El Escorial, home to about 36,000 people and El Escorial, a 16th century palace that’s the world’s largest Renaissance building.On Friday, French authorities ordered the evacuation of 110,000 residents and tourists after wildfires threatened to reach Cap Ferret, a popular tourist area west of Bordeaux.The blazes have burned about 30,000 hectares and engulfed a number of houses in the Gironde department, according to local officials. In Landes department, further south, wildfires torched 2,600 hectares, leading to the evacuation of more than 23,000 people.Last week was the worst for wildfires across Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. A total of about 140,000 hectares have burnt in the country so far in 2026, more than three times the average for the past two decades.Climate change is intensifying periods of extreme heat in Europe, the fastest-warming continent. Record-breaking heat and drought have fueled the worst start ever to the global wildfire season, with climate scientists warning that a developing El Niño could bring even harsher conditions later this summer.—With assistance from Anand Mammen Katakam.Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here. 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