Wildfires Rage Across Spain and France Amid Another Heatwave
Spain, France and Italy are battling fierce wildfires as a third heatwave of the summer pushes temperatures towards 44C. A blaze in Spain’s Guadalajara region has consumed some 32,000 hectares, one of the country’s largest on record, while fires in the French Var and on Sicily have forced evacuations. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said: “Climate change kills and destroys wealth… This isn’t politics. It is science.”
Forecasters expect 42–44C across parts of the Spanish Mediterranean and above 41C in Greece, with nationwide alerts in Greece and Cyprus. The current fires follow a devastating blaze near Almería this month that killed thirteen people, several of them foreign nationals, and France has recorded thousands of excess deaths during its June heat. The commander of the effort in the Var, William Vogl, said simply: “The situation has been very difficult.” For the many Britons holidaying in southern Europe, the heat and fires are a direct hazard. Watch the fire risk as temperatures peak this week.