WorldMassive firefighting efforts in France and Spain are in a race against time, battling to make progress before a forecast surge in temperatures that could make fighting flames more difficult.France says monster fire has stopped growing, but is not yet beatenThe Associated Press · Posted: Jul 27, 2026 10:17 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Firefighters battle a wildfire in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, Spain, on Sunday. (Manu Fernandez/The Associated Press)Fire crews and planes wrestled Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control in southwest France before a forecast jump in temperatures complicates the massive firefighting effort against a blaze that has burned an area four times the size of Paris.Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the fire had stopped growing, a first glimmer of hope since the inferno forced a staggering 220,000 people to flee in the region around the city of Bordeaux.But with woodlands still smouldering, the minister cautioned that the battle isn't yet won."It hasn't progressed during the night," Nunez said. "We have to remain very concentrated, very determined, to go at any moment."He spoke after French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting Monday focusing on the massive firefighting effort in the Gironde region and on wildfires elsewhere.The Gironde prefecture said the situation overnight remained "globally stable" — a change from previous days when officials said flames had crept to within 15 kilometres of the outskirts of Bordeaux, a historic city of 268,000 people, and generated self-feeding firestorms with lightning bolts that ignited more blazes.No new evacuations were announced Monday. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, Gironde authorities worked to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. Nunez also urged people to avoid the region, popular for its Atlantic beaches and some of France's largest woodlands.In the adjacent southwestern Landes region, where hundreds of firefighters have been making progress against another virulent but smaller fire, the prefecture said some rain fell overnight and described the conditions as "favourable" for firefighting but also cautioned that they could change.WATCH | The rapid spread of wildfires:Raging fires in Europe force 300,000 from homesJuly 26|Duration 2:19Rapidly spreading and deadly wildfires in France and Spain have forced more than 300,000 people to evacuate, and there is concern that a looming heat wave could make the situation worse.With thousands of firefighters on the ground and rotations of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, it became a race against time before an expected heat wave that could make fighting flames more difficult. The national weather service forecast temperatures above 35 C in the southwest on Tuesday and likely higher on Wednesday. "We know temperatures are going to climb again, that we'll enter a phase of intense heat and so we really have to remain very cautious," Nunez said. "As long as the fire isn't contained, the situation remains unfavourable."A large pine tree with its hollowed trunk still burning from the inside is seen in a scorched forest following a wildfire near La Adrada, Spain, on Monday. (Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images)Crews using earth-movers tore up strips of forest and scrubland to create barren spaces, intended to stop fires from spreading. Farmers were keeping fire crews supplied with water, transporting it to them in tanks. Around a dozen countries have provided planes, helicopters, firefighters and other assistance to both France and Spain, which is also fighting unprecedented blazes. All told, fires in both countries have forced more than 330,000 people to flee.Macron didn't immediately comment after the government crisis meeting he presided over. In a weekend post on X, he pledged long-term support for fire-hit communities, saying: "We will rebuild, we will repair and we will be present for as long as necessary."Spain battling its biggest-ever firesIn Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and in the Valencia region. Authorities evacuated 79,000 people and confined 30,000 others to their homes.In both Spain and France, the exceptional scale of the fires — fuelled by heat waves that hit especially hard and early this year, making forests and scrubland tinder-dry — are driving calls for stronger action against climate change.Firefighters work to battle wildfires in Marcheprime, France, on Monday. (Florian Goga/Reuters)"What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.A fire raging in hilly, rural terrain in Avila, west of Madrid, has become Spain's largest on record, scorching 50,000 hectares, the government said. That's five times the size of Barcelona.Fires have burned 153,000 hectares this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister.The minister said that another heat wave forecast from Tuesday — which would be Spain's fourth so far this year — could ratchet up the fire danger. Spain's weather agency forecast temperatures above 40 C.FRONT BURNERHow extreme heat is changing Europe'Just stop burning fossil fuels.' Scientists stress that our smoky skies have only one true fixCanadair planes combat fire in ItalyA wildfire driven by strong winds broke out on Sunday afternoon near Peschici, in Italy's southern Puglia region, burning pine forest and scrub and forcing the evacuation of about 300 tourists from beaches and campgrounds, authorities said.The Coast Guard evacuated tourists by sea to nearby Vieste, where authorities opened temporary shelters.Three Canadair water-bombing planes and fire crews on the ground continued Monday to battle the blaze, which revived memories of devastating wildfires that hit the same coastal area in 2007.