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French authorities have ordered the evacuation of almost 60,000 people near Bordeaux, taking the total number of people told to flee wildfires in France and Spain to more than 220,000.
Around 200,000 people have been evacuated in south-west France in the Gironde and Landes regions. French President Emmanuel Macron has mobilised the military to assist the response.
Meanwhile, a fire near Madrid is “beyond the capacity” of firefighters to contain, Spanish officials have warned, after three fires west of the capital merged into a single blaze.
Spain’s government has declared a national emergency, with 25,000 people told to evacuate and almost 40,000 told to stay indoors.
Madrid’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso described it as the “worst fire in the history of the region”, with the area facing a “perfect storm” of high temperatures, relentless wind and merging fire fronts.
In Spain, local emergency services said wildfires were moving towards the municipalities of Robledo de Chavela and Fresnedillas de la Olivia, around 50km (31 miles) from the capital.
“The wildfire is at its peak and is currently beyond the capacity of firefighters to contain,” Carlos Novillo, the Madrid regional government’s emergency management chief, told reporters.
“It’s not possible to attack the fire in that area, so defensive measures are being taken,” he added.
The Military Emergency Unit (UME) has been deployed to try to halt the advance of the flames, with its main focus protecting areas near the town of El Escorial.
Authorities are also monitoring a separate wildfire in nearby Ávila province, where officials fear the huge Burgohondo blaze could merge with the Madrid fire.
Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said authorities were doing “everything we can” to prevent the two merging.
Francisco Martín, the government delegate in Madrid, warned those numbers could rise as “embers are flying for miles and the fire is jumping great distances.
BBC
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