France seeks EU aid as wildfires rage; Spain declares emergency

France is urgently seeking European Union support as devastating wildfires continue to burn across southern Europe, with the Gironde region in the southwest facing a particularly severe crisis. President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday that France will soon receive reinforcements, including two Croatian Canadairs, two Portuguese Air Tractors, and two Czech and Slovak Black Hawk helicopters. "The situation remains under very high tension," Macron stated on X, highlighting the ongoing struggle against the blazes.

The fire, which began Wednesday in Saumos, has rapidly spread through dense pine forests towards Lège-Cap-Ferret, consuming 4,800 hectares and forcing the evacuation of over 20,000 people near the popular Arcachon Bay. This area, a major tourist destination, was also hit by severe fires in the summer of 2022. Firefighters are battling the flames "house by house" in Lège-Cap-Ferret, with several residences already lost. The prefecture has ordered the evacuation of several villages on the Cap-Ferret peninsula as flames breached fire lines.

Meanwhile, Spain has declared a national state of emergency near Madrid to combat its own intense wildfires. According to an AFP analysis of European Forest Fire Information System data, 2026 is currently ranked as the second-worst year for burned areas in the EU over the past two decades. While other EAEU stock exchanges saw positive trends, this year's fires are particularly devastating for France, Spain, and Italy, underscoring the escalating impact of climate change on the continent.

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L'île par île, maison par maison.