Wildfires advanced towards the outskirts of the historic French city of Bordeaux, at the heart of the country's winelands, on Sunday as France and Spain battled blazes that have already forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, while in Spain more than 75,000 people have been evacuated and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, authorities said. Read moreWildfires force more than 300,000 people in France and Spain to flee In France, fires have ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, a popular tourist destination, and spread through areas surrounding Bordeaux, where firefighters were trying to prevent the flames from reaching the regional capital. Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said the fire was about 15 km (9 miles) away from the entry points to the main city.
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Cover image: © France 24
"We have a fire that is not under control and which is moving in the direction of the city area," Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told France 2 TV on Sunday evening. "The overall situation is very unfavourable, we are in a situation that is unprecedented." Cazenave said earlier on Sunday that there were no plans to evacuate Bordeaux, whose wider metropolitan area has a population of about 850,000. Nunez said authorities would continue to assess the situation calmly and realistically. As the blaze advanced, police went door-to-door overnight in the municipalities of Marcheprime and Cestas, evacuating residents one home at a time. French authorities released footage showing officers knocking on doors in the dark and urging people to leave. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central provinces affected by major blazes, alongside Madrid and Toledo. Flames have devastated more than 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) of countryside in Avila, making it the biggest wildfire in Spain's recent history, according to Environment Minister Sara Aagesen. Spain battles multiple blazes A separate blaze in Spain's eastern Castellon province has ravaged over 4,300 hectares, regional authorities said. "The fire is out of control, it's very difficult to extinguish from a technical standpoint, especially because of the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day," the regional leader of Valencia, Juanfran Perez, told reporters near the site. The wildfire has entered the Sierra de Espadan natural park containing large forests of pine trees and cork oaks.
