Read the daily news to learn English

‘We stared into an abyss’: the heroes battling to tame France’s ‘megafire’

By noon it is time for a break. The temperature is about 35C, the smell of ash, cinders and burnt wood hang acrid in the air. At tables laid out in the shrinking shade on the desiccated grass and sand outside the sports centre in Le Porge, 200 men and a handful of women have gathered. Firefighters, soldiers, police, gendarmes, officials, first aid teams, foresters and volunteers sit elbow to elbow, plates of sausages, steak and potatoes in front of them. The village was evacuated just over 14 hours after the “megafire” – as it has become known in France – broke out 6km away last week. The blaze has consumed 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) of mainly forestland west of Bordeaux. Though finally contained, there are outbreaks every day, pushing to the limit emergency services and the hundreds of amateurs who have come to their aid. “We’ve turned a corner but we are very, very tired. We have gone beyond what we thought possible,” said a senior firefighter at Le Porge, downing a litre of water in less than a minute. “We stared into an abyss.” Overhead, three planes carrying huge tanks of water and retardant flew low towards new fires. A drone buzzed nearby, sent up by the fire brigade to detect with thermal cameras the creeping underground blaze – described by local media as a “zombie fire” – that threatens fresh chaos in the coming days, weeks and months. Around the village, roads run straight through a smouldering, smoking and deserted landscape of charred but upright trees. In places, the forest is intact, the tall pines in their serried green ranks. In others, chosen at apparent random by the racing flames, it has been reduced to ash and cinders as far as the eye can see. “Now we are all running on adrenaline, but the crisis is going to pass and that’s when it will be really hard. That’s when we will weep,” said Remy Bossion, 46, whose home was damaged in the fire and who is now spending his days helping cut 200-metre-wide firebreaks through the remaining forest to slow any future outbreaks. This weekend, fires elsewhere in France are bringing similar, if less extensive, devastation. In the Var region, George and Amal Clooney were forced to evacuate their home as a wildfire burned nearby. In the famous forests of Fontainebleau outside Paris, in Corsica and near Dijon, the flames still threaten. Across Europe, emergency services are struggling. In the UK, 120 firefighters have been tackling a blaze in Suffolk for three days. In Spain, the cumulative number of fires in 2026 has set a new record for this time of year. In Greece, three firefighters died in Crete and thousands of tourists were evacuated from resorts. The fire weather across the EU has broken records for this time of year, new data shows. Scientists say models of climate change have long predicted such extreme weather, though some disasters appear to be striking earlier and with more strength than expected. “We still have a month or more of summer to go. We need rain, a lot of rain,” said the senior firefighter in Le Porge, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have authorisation to talk to the media. Leaders in France have been seeking to reassure worried communities – and avert a political crisis. “We are gradually getting back to normal,” said Sophie Brocas, the prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the Gironde department, which includes Le Porge, on Thursday night. President Emmanuel Macron said last week it was not the time to analyse lessons to be learned while France was still in “full battle”. No one doubts the scale of the megafire, which at one point reached the suburbs of Bordeaux itself, but the question of its origins and the availability of resources necessary to fight it is bitterly contested. Among the residents of Le Porge eating at the makeshift canteen was Nicolas Di Domenico, a local public works contractor who learned of the blaze when his electricians working near the village of Saumos called to say a spark from a faulty machine being used by workers cleaning a high-tension cable had just ignited a fierce blaze. Di Domenico, 46, said: “It was a short circuit or something of that nature and immediately everything went up because it’s all so dry. The guys there tried to use a fire extinguisher but it was too intense. My guys basically ran for their lives and by the time the fire brigade turned up it was huge.” The blaze initially overwhelmed firefighters, who had difficulty accessing the deeper forest where it was spreading. Within six hours, it had travelled 6km (3.7 miles) to reach the outskirts of Le Porge. Very early the next morning, residents were in the streets, burning cinders were falling from a red sky and a decision was made to evacuate. “The authorities should have stopped all work in the forest. Someone got their priorities wrong,” Di Domenico said. Many in Le Porge and elsewhere in the region accuse the local administration of being “asleep at the wheel” before the fire, and then failing to commit sufficient resources fast enough. Many have asked why France’s ageing fleet of firefighting planes had not be replaced or sufficiently reinforced. “We feared this for a long time, and were warning about the planes specifically since 2017,” said Sebastien Delavoux, head of the firefighting section of the CGT union. “This summer has shown we have reached the extreme limit of what is possible for France’s firefighters.” The mayor of Le Porge, which lost 20% of its homes and only “by a miracle” escaped further devastation, described an event that was impossible to predict, despite multiple warnings over the years. “The conditions this year are totally exceptional. We’ve never seen anything like this,” Martial Zaninetti said. “You can always say it’s not enough, we’ve not got adequate resources, enough planes, or of whatever, but the scale is completely beyond anything we’ve seen before.” On Wednesday evening, at a base on the edge of the zone worst hit by the fire, senior firefighters gathered around a map taped to the side of a fire engine for a briefing. Burnt red by the sun and with notebooks in hand, grizzled sector commanders stood to receive missions for the night, when lower temperatures and higher humidity make it easier to fight a blaze. Younger team members, still in their fire retardant overalls and covered in soot, watched as their superiors greeted each other with black humour and bags of Haribo sweets. “All right, my little chicken? Ready for another night of work? Not too much for you,” joked one officer to his replacement as he finished his 12-hour shift. “Are you planning your holidays already?” came the response. One said the struggle with the megafire was now shifting from a dynamic and dangerous “war of manoeuvre” to a long, slow and hard “war of attrition”. “We were on the defensive at the beginning but now it’s not spreading any more. There are still lots of individual outbreaks that have us running around and when everyone is exhausted, that is hard. So the mobilisation remains total,” he added. Instead of the usual summer tourist traffic on the long straight roads through the pines of the Landes, there are now long convoys of fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and a motley collection of agricultural water tankers, lorries rigged with plastic containers and pickups carrying jerry cans connected to garden hoses. Some ferry water to the fire engines, allowing the crew to remain at an outbreak without leaving to replenish their tanks. Others spray roadsides or the new firebreaks which leave wide, white scars through the forest. In the small resort town of Lacanau, just to the north of the worst-hit zones, volunteers refilled containers at a makeshift pumping station set up by volunteers at the sailing club. Armand Fargeas, 51, who runs pleasure trips for tourists on Lacanau’s inland lake, said: “We’ve got 600 people in our WhatsApp group, which for a community like ours is a huge number. What’s really great is that you have every generation getting involved. We might not agree on politics, but the spirit of solidarity is amazing.” Now the hotels and camping sites are empty – all evacuated – and the bistros shut. Rows of sailing boats and paddleboards were drawn up on the shore. “We hope the tourists come back. It’s a catastrophe,” said Anne-Marie Nardou, 74, as she brought fruit and drinks to Fargeas and his friends. Some of the roughly 200,000 people forced to leave their homes by the fire are now being allowed home. On Friday, an exhibition hall in Bordeaux, the regional capital, began to empty of hundreds of evacuees, though many still awaited permission. Tens of thousands of others remained with friends, relatives or in hotels. Frédéric Farrugia, a 55-year-old financial adviser who lives in the coastal village of Lège, watched on his home’s security cameras as the fire brigade fought to save the building. Eventually, the flames were beaten back, though homes 50 metres away were destroyed. An image of the inferno taken by his wife, Severine, as she escaped with him and their cat after being woken by gendarmes at 2am led to an offer of temporary accommodation from a wellwisher. “We were on the dual carriageway with these flames like a wall along one side. It was a bit like the apocalypse,” Farrugia said. “I think that now the French will realise that the climate is heating up and that we have to react.” In Lacanau as elsewhere, many also talk about the obvious effects of the climate crisis. Anthony Legrand, a carpenter in the village, said he had seen massive change over the decades: tides that reduce the width of the stunning beach, green algae and, of course, repeated fires, including one in 2022 that devastated a swathe of forest not far from his small home. “You’d think that would be a warning but no one paid attention,” he said. “It’ll be the same this time. They’ve got memories like goldfish.” In Le Porge, the mayor said the “worst had passed for now” but risks of a new megafire remained high, now and in coming years. “Right now, we need new shelter, clothes, insurance, legal support, doctors and psychologists,” Zaninetti added. “But this is a problem for the long term. Unless we find another way to live with the forest, this will just happen again.”

‘Who could have done this?’ Mystery over Briton found dead in a suitcase in Athens

Two worlds separated by sheets of corrugated iron: one, a tree-lined road, bordered by a park and the home of Greece’s oldest sports club; the other a wasteland of derelict buildings and graffiti-covered walls in what was once a car park. It is here, on the wrong side of the divide, in Kypseli, a neighbourhood in central Athens, that the body of Elisabeth-Jane Ross was found, inside a suitcase last month. The 38-year-old had longtime connections to the country – she had worked with homeless people in Greece and was involved in charitable work. She had arrived in the Greek capital on holiday almost three weeks earlier. “She was an angel,” a friend in her native Edinburgh told the Guardian. “Wherever she went, she did good. Who could possibly have done this?” The homeless man who made the grim discovery was among the few who ventured into the abandoned lot, located between an apartment block and design school on Evelpidon Street. It was midday on 18 July. What he did next – alerting authorities to the find – would shake up police forces in Greece and Scotland. “We’ve had the entire homicide division of the Greek FBI working night and day on the case,” said the police spokesperson Konstantina Dimoglidou. “We’re in contact with other police forces. We’re going to solve this.” But four days after Ross was publicly identified, with Greek authorities announcing the body was that of a Briton based on fingerprints that matched biometric data in the US, mystery continues to shroud the case. Initial examination of her remains proved inconclusive although pathologists deemed she had probably been dead for several days before the discovery. There were no evident injuries or sign of struggle on her body, raising further questions as to how she had died. On Friday, as local people left flowers at the site, police said investigators were intensifying their search of CCTV footage after it emerged that DNA analysis of the suitcase had not produced any evidence that could be linked to a suspect. “Whenever I pass by I think of that poor woman,” said Manos Andreou, a fashion designer who walks his dog each day along Evelpidon. “Until the area was closed off, I used to go in there and let her run around it, so it’s all been a bit of a shock. They say they’re looking at camera footage, they say they’re making progress, but can you see any cameras anywhere on this street?” The daughter of a lawyer, Ross, who had lived and worked in the US, flew into Athens from Edinburgh on 26 June. Until 15 July she had stayed with the son of a Greek friend in Keratsini, a working-class suburb close to the port of Piraeus. Before moving on, she had told him she would be spending a few days with friends from the US in Kypseli. Detectives, now desperately trying to reconstruct her movements, have expressed frustration at their inability to trace the Americans. Other members of the Briton’s social network in Athens have been interviewed at length, giving testimony that has been described as “incredibly helpful”. None are considered suspects. “July 15 was the last day she had contact with any of her friends,” said the police spokesperson. “Our investigations are focused on the intervening days and whom she may have met and where she stayed. The Americans have not been identified or found.” Police remain confident the suitcase was not at the crime scene more than 48 hours before its discovery on 18 July. They are also convinced that Ross died nearby in Kypseli although have stopped short of describing her death as a murder. “There is always the possibility that she died and then for some reason was hidden,” added Dimoglidou. “Our priority is to get to the bottom of who left the suitcase. Whoever they were was careful not to leave any fingerprints or DNA.” Adding to the mystery, it emerged that the Briton’s mobile phone was in operation and being used days after her death. Ross’s distraught father is reported to have told police he received text messages from his daughter, believing she was alive and well, until her body was identified, publicly, on Wednesday. Messages spoke of her “need to be alone”. Authorities, who have yet to retrieve the device, believe they were deliberately sent so that she would not be declared missing and “to buy time”. Investigators have located the phone’s digital footprint to Athens. One source said: “We have to presume that the person who had her phone and then sent these messages, days after pathologists believe she probably died, is connected to the crime and we cannot rule out that they knew Ms Ross.” More than 60 people in the Greek police department’s homicide division have been assigned to the case. Urgency is such that investigators have also requested that laboratory tests be fast-tracked to determine the cause of death. “At such times, when there is advanced decay because of heat or the conditions in which a body is kept, only toxicological tests and in-depth examination of [vital organ] tissues can determine, exactly, how a person died,” said Grigoris Leon, who heads the Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine. There would be answers, he said, that would unearth the truth. “I have no doubt they will come but it won’t be easy and it will take time.”

‘Just the tip of the iceberg’: how a Bali run club reignited tourist tensions on holiday island

When Annisa Rahmadani posted online about being rejected from a social running club in Bali, she expected a few sympathetic comments. Instead, her story went viral, prompted national politicians to weigh in, immigration authorities to intervene and ultimately, the club’s Dutch organisers barred from Indonesia. “I had no idea it would get that big,” said the 34-year-old university lecturer from the Indonesian city of Bandung. “But it seems it was just the tip of the iceberg.” The controversy centred on the expat-run Entourage running club. The group attracted a huge backlash after posts like Rahmadani’s circulated online and sparked allegations it was excluding Indonesians and accepting foreigners. The club denies it excludes Indonesians and says the issue stemmed from its registration system incorrectly rejecting some Indonesian phone numbers. For many in Indonesia, the story hit a nerve, inflaming frustrations about an influx of wealthy foreigners and digital nomads on the island. It crystallised a feeling that parts of Bali are becoming socially and economically detached, places where locals says they increasingly feel like outsiders in their own home. “The patience of the locals had been tested for too long,” said Bali regional parliamentarian Niluh Djelantik. Bali has long been a popular tourist destination but since the pandemic, it has become a magnet for remote workers and digital nomads, drawn by the weather, surf, relatively low cost of living and relaxed visa requirements. Around tourism hubs such as Canggu and Uluwatu, co-working spaces, luxury gyms, paddle clubs and wellness retreats have overtaken warung food stalls and beach bars, alongside a growing foreign population choosing to stay for months or years. Despite an increase in jobs and income levels, the rapid transformation has brewed resentment among locals. Infrastructure has struggled to keep pace, housing costs have soared and frustrations over cultural clashes – from topless scooter riders to foreigners disrespecting sacred sites – have angered the Balinese and the wider Indonesian population. “In Bahasa Indonesia we say, Seperti api dalam sekam (like a fire under the dry rice husk). It had been escalating, and the fire was always going to come out,” said Djelantik. Djelantik said not all foreigners were causing problems, but some ignored local culture, broke the rules or worked illegally. ‘Rife with discrimination’ Run clubs have become popular activities in Bali for locals and foreigners. The Entourage group had held a similar early morning “silent disco” event in May, with social media posts showing a crowd jogging through the streets with headphones. Rahmadani, a keen runner, had wanted to join their next early morning event in July with her British husband. He was immediately accepted while she was rejected. The organisers later said they were targeting digital nomads and their registration system had incorrectly excluded some Indonesian phone numbers. Online, she found dozens of Indonesians reporting similar experiences, and screenshots of rejected applications quickly spread across social media. As criticism intensified, Entourage posted a statement denying it had intentionally discriminated against Indonesians. The run club said events were “open for everyone, including non-digital nomads”. The statement said Indonesians made up almost a quarter of participants and blamed an automated approval system for excluding some Indonesian numbers, adding it had paused events to review the processes. Entourage has been approached for comment. Immigration director-general Hendarsam Marantoko has since banned two Dutch nationals who were running the club from returning to Indonesia, described the club as “rife with discrimination against local residents”, and argued there “should not be a state within a state”. Bali’s tourism office also announced that organised running events would require permits in future. Bali governor Wayan Koster adopted a more measured tone, saying he did not believe the controversy showed foreigners were deliberately creating exclusionary enclaves. Running clubs, he said, remained welcome provided they complied with regulations. The debate comes as Bali grapples with record tourism. Foreign arrivals reached 6.9 million in 2025, surpassing the pre-pandemic high, while authorities have intensified immigration enforcement amid complaints over illegal work, tourist behaviour and visa violations. In the first six months of this year, 342 foreigners were deported. The crackdown has targeted foreigners accused of abusing tourist visas, including working illegally as tour guides, fitness instructors and online entrepreneurs, alongside high-profile incidents involving assaults on police, reckless driving, and public indecency at sacred sites. Social justice advocate Piter Panjaitan said those incidents had fuelled broader resentment among locals that had been building for years, alongside growing frustrations over rising housing and living costs, worsening traffic congestion and weak enforcement of immigration rules. “The laws are there, we just need to get better at enforcing them.” New Zealand content creator Hamish Newton-Vesty, who documents his life in Bali and his efforts to learn Bahasa Indonesia under the moniker “Bule Hamiss” – a play on the Indonesian word for foreigner and local pronunciation of his name – said the run club controversy prompted his Indonesian friends to share similar experiences. “Some foreigners come here arrogantly and have a mindset that it’s not their country, that they can just do whatever they want,” he said. Learning the language, understanding the culture and showing respect went a long way, he added. “I don’t think it’s actually a big ask.” For Rahmadani, the backlash was never about driving foreigners away. Her husband is British, and they still love visiting Bali. “We’re not against foreigners,” she said. “We’re just against those who abuse the system and who take it for granted.”

Middle East crisis: Trump says ‘Israel is very happy’ with Gaza peace plan but doesn’t say if withdrawal or Hamas disarmament comes first – as it happened

We are pausing this blog for the moment but our latest reporting can be found here:

At least 57 people die as tens of thousands cross to Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco

At least 57 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after as many as 50,000 migrants entered the tiny territory from Morocco in what Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”. The huge influx, which took place over the course of just 24 hours, overwhelmed the city of 85,000 people, triggered a political crisis for Madrid and led to a mixed reaction from other EU countries, including calls for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone. Sánchez, who arrived in Ceuta on Friday morning, said he would use all the resources at his disposal to guarantee the safety of the city’s population. He attributed the mass crossing to “human trafficking mafias” that had taken advantage of a decision by Spain’s supreme court, which recently ruled that those intercepted at sea while trying to enter Ceuta, or Spain’s other north African enclave of Melilla, could not be summarily returned under special rules. Sánchez said: “That has spread like wildfire during these last few hours through the networks of mafias that traffic in human beings and has produced an avalanche of the characteristics and dimension that we experienced yesterday.” Sánchez said a temporary reception centre would be established to facilitate the documentation, registration, triage and “expedited” expulsion of people with no legal claim to be in Spain. He also said the government would erect a visible barrier – a line of buoys – near the breakwater at Ceuta’s Tarajal beach to make it clear where the border was, and to legally comply with the court’s ruling. Although the Spanish government said about 50,000 people had crossed the border on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday, the president of Ceuta put the figure at about 60,000. Spain’s interior ministry, which has deployed additional police officers and soldiers to the enclave, said more than 48,300 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday. The Irish presidency of the EU has convened a meeting of member states on Saturday, under the Integrated Political Crisis Response mechanism. EU sources said this will provide experts from member states with an opportunity “to discuss the movements into Ceuta over the last two days, the numbers of people who have returned to Morocco today, the supports being provided by the EU to Spain and diplomatic engagement with Morocco”. A further meeting of EU ambassadors has been called in Brussels on Monday. The latest incident dwarfs the last mass border crossing in May 2021, when Morocco loosened its border controls, allowing about 10,000 people to enter the territory over the course of two days. That crossing came amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain’s decision to allow the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, the Polisario Front, to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Morocco and the Polisario Front both lay claim to Western Sahara, which was under Spanish rule until 1975, when colonial authorities handed over the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its longstanding policy of neutrality and backed Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara – a move that had caused a diplomatic rift between Spain and Algeria, which had supported the Polisario group. Sánchez visited Algiers on 20 July – the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years – marking a thaw in relations with Algeria. Moroccan government sources told the Europa Press news agency that the surge of people entering Ceuta was down to “criminal organisations” and insisted that Rabat’s cooperation with Spain remained “exemplary”. Morocco’s ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that “we have always prioritized legal, orderly and safe migration for all” and indicated that the situation had developed against Rabat’s wishes. Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers’ association representing officers of the Spanish Guardia Civil – which patrols Spain’s borders – described the situation as a “serious humanitarian crisis”. Without shelter, thousands of people, including unaccompanied children, had been left sleeping in parks and on pavements, while others roamed the streets aimlessly. “It’s chaotic,” said Sbihi. Among those who died, many drowned, but some were killed in a crush to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach, Sbihi said. Video footage on Thursday showed crowds of people walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach on to local roads. While most appeared to be young men, there were also families with women and small children. Ceuta and Melilla have the EU’s only land border with Africa. ‌Both cities periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by people seeking to reach Europe. The events in Ceuta led some EU countries to issue strong threats or rebukes. Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, summoned Italy’s ambassador to Madrid on Friday after Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone. Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, blamed the situation in Ceuta on the Sánchez government’s decision to offer a now closed scheme to regularise the status of more than 1 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. He said the programme had incentivised human trafficking and was “profoundly wrong”. Tajani’s remarks prompted a sharp response from Albares, who said the comments were “unbecoming” and accused Italy of “partisan demagoguery”. Italy announced on Friday evening that it would be suspending its Schengen arrangements with Spain, but the practical impact of the move was not immediately clear. Meloni said the measure would be kept in force only as long as needed, adding: “In parallel, Italy is ready to support every European initiative to assist Spanish institutions as needed to restore full control of the union’s external borders and to address the ongoing situation with determination.” Responding to Italy’s unilateral decision, a European Commission spokesperson said a member state “may exceptionally and temporarily reintroduce internal border control as a matter of last resort, to address serious threats to public order or national security”. But they added that the member state would need to notify the commission and explain how the situation in Ceuta constituted such a threat. The Guardian understands that Italy has not yet formally notified any of its EU partners of its decision. The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, urged Spain to “act swiftly to regain control of the situation and fulfil its commitments within Schengen cooperation”. The Finnish interior minister, Mari Rantanen, said that as Spain had “completely failed to protect the Schengen area’s external border”, all EU countries should support Italy’s proposal to suspend its Schengen status. However, in a statement later on Friday, the European Commission said Ceuta and Melilla were subject to special Schengen rules that prevented onward movement within the zone. The EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, called the situation in Ceuta “unacceptable” and said he was in close contact with the Spanish authorities. But he also confirmed there was no onward route from Ceuta given the enclave’s unique status under the Schengen rules. He said: “The Schengen borders code provides for special rules that apply to Ceuta and Melilla. Border checks on persons departing from Ceuta and Melilla remain in force.” But there were also shows of unity. The European Council president, António Costa, expressed his “solidarity with Spain in the current situation of illegal migration in Ceuta”. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he had been in touch with the Spanish government to express his solidarity and to offer assistance to Spain. But, as a precautionary measure, Macron said he had asked the interior ministry to strengthen the French controls on its border with Spain with four mobile units and drones. In Spain, the opposition People’s party (PP) called on Sánchez to come up with a tough response, saying the military and police reinforcements announced on Thursday night were insufficient. In a post on X, the PP’s leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, wrote: “People have continued to arrive in Ceuta throughout the night, and those on the ground describe an occupied city, with nothing sufficient being done to prevent it.” The far-right Vox party called the incident “an invasion”. On Friday evening, hundreds attended an anti-migrant rally outside the Moroccan embassy in Madrid, with images showing some protesters performing Nazi salutes and waving flags with far-right insignia.

Italy says it’s temporarily suspending EU Schengen arrangement with Spain after 60,000 migrants reach Ceuta – as it happened

Just as we closed the blog, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has confirmed the move to suspend the free movement with on air and sea borders with Spain. She said it was “an extraordinary measure, adopted to safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation.” In another sign that it may stop short of full border control for all arrivals from Spain (19:19), she said “the measure will be kept in force only for the time necessary, with particular attention to limiting any impact on summer tourist flows.” She added that “Italy is ready to support every European initiative to assist Spanish institutions as needed to restore full control of the Union’s external borders and to address the ongoing situation with determination.” “Defending borders means defending the safety of citizens, combating irregular immigration, and striking at the criminal networks that traffic human beings,” she said.

Daughter of British couple killed in Spanish wildfire rejects claim they ignored order to leave

The bereaved daughter of a British couple who died in a Spanish wildfire is calling on the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, to get answers from Spain’s government about why her parents were not told to evacuate until it was too late. Severe wildfires have burned across Spain and France since early July, killing people, destroying thousands of homes and forcing more than 300,000 people to flee. Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar in Almería, died in mid-July while fleeing their home as a wildfire tore through the village. They were among 13 people killed in the fires, many of whom died in their cars as they tried to escape. Danielle Kirton, 42, an assistant headteacher from Nottinghamshire, has spent the weeks since her parents died looking for answers. She knows her mother would have followed official advice had she have been given it. Though the fire alert came at 4.30pm, the evacuation order did not come until more than three hours later. Kirton said this was delivered by a lone police officer, who was “frantically driving from house to house” and Spain’s official emergency alert system, which plays a loud noise on mobile phones and tells people to evacuate, was not used. “My mother sent me a video at 6.45pm showing the fire a considerable way away from the hill where they live,” Kirton said. “She didn’t sound worried or concerned. I kept in contact with her and she sent me a message saying at 7.53pm that they’d evacuated.” However, the decision to evacuate was made tragically late. “They stopped at a neighbour’s driveway to shout to a neighbour they needed to evacuate, but then they became trapped as the fire had jumped on both sides of the road.” There are now other wildfires burning in much of Spain and south-west France, but there have been no civilian casualties so far. In the small village where her parents lived, 13 people died. “It would appear that somewhere within that system there has been a failure. If you look at the subsequent wildfires in Spain, there have been no casualties and the biggest difference is the emergency alert was used in subsequent wildfires,” Kirton said. She said her mother loved living in Bédar and as a retired headteacher took much joy in organising quiz nights to fundraise for the local school. She had a bag packed and she was ready to evacuate. “She was just waiting to be told what to do,” Kirton said. Spanish politicians have claimed that those who died ignored instructions. “My parents did not ignore instructions. My parents would have not had an issue with instructions in Spanish,” Kirton said. “My parents heeded advice to shelter in place, until they were then told that they needed to evacuate. “They took the correct route, and their only route, to the evacuation point. It is a weak and cowardly act to blame victims in the face of tragedy.” The response from the Foreign Office has been a “slap in the face”, she added. “The help from the consulate has been nonexistent. We got sent a link: ‘What to do when someone dies abroad.’ That is it. It is a slap in the face, to be honest.” Miliband has been visiting France and Spain to discuss wildfires and the climate crisis with political leaders. Kirton said: “As UK citizens, it is important to ask for his support in asking Spanish authorities to conduct a full and thorough investigation.” Scientists say the fires have been worsened by the climate crisis, which has intensified the recent heatwaves. Kirton said this makes it more crucial that lessons are learned so no one has to go through what she has. “It’s vital for planning for the future that we see what exactly were the contributing factors in this case,” she said. “It’s a perfect storm, the weather, the climate, the vegetation, the wind. My parents weren’t concerned before – it isn’t something they felt fearful of, it wasn’t something that happened where they lived.” Kirton has been working every day since her parents died trying to get answers and a substantial response from the Spanish authorities. She said: “My mum and dad would have always spoken up for what’s right and if I can do anything for them it’s that we can ask for the truth and ensure this never happens again to any other families.” The Andalusian government has been contacted for comment. A Foreign Office spokesperson said that any investigation into the fire response is a matter for the Spanish government: “The foreign secretary has been in regular contact with his Spanish counterpart, including during his visit to Madrid on Wednesday. “They discussed how the UK could support Spain’s response, ensure British nationals receive the right advice and assistance, and agreed that lessons must be learned as climate change makes these dangerous wildfires more likely. “Staff at our embassy have been working with the British community in the affected area, collating their questions and concerns and raising them with the Spanish authorities. This work is ongoing.”

Why is Ceuta a migration flashpoint and how were so many people able to cross from Morocco?

What has happened and where? Border controls between Morocco and the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta appeared to break down in recent days, allowing an estimated 50,000 people to cross on to the Spanish side in chaotic and dangerous scenes that resulted in dozens of deaths. The number of arrivals was more than two-thirds the size of the ordinary population in Ceuta, where a humanitarian crisis was playing out on Friday. As of Friday evening, more than 37,500 people had been returned to the Moroccan side of the border, with hundreds more going back by the hour. Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish territory 250 miles to the east along north Africa’s Mediterranean coast, constitute the EU’s only land borders with Africa. In Spanish possession since 1580, Ceuta is home to a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, while its Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers live in relative harmony. Morocco does not officially recognise Ceuta and Melilla as Spanish territories and often refers to them as occupied lands. Why is Ceuta a migration flashpoint? Spain is a main point of arrival into Europe for people seeking better economic opportunities or an escape from violence in their home countries. Ceuta and Melilla are heavily fortified as they are seen as destinations for those trying to reach Spain from Morocco and other parts of Africa. Many migrants who reach Ceuta or Melilla are immediately turned back, but others are held in migrant shelters while they apply for asylum in Spain. To reach Ceuta, people often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, covering about 3 miles (5km). Others attempt the crossing from the nearer town of Belyounech. In 2022, 23 people were killed as about 2,000 people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, attempted to cross into Melilla from Morocco, while in 2014 at least 14 people died off Ceuta when 200 people tried to enter by climbing the border fence or swimming around the breakwater that separates the city from Moroccan territory. Migrant arrivals to Ceuta and Melilla are generally much lower than those reaching Spain through the Canary and Balearic islands. Spain’s overall immigrant population has grown considerably in recent decades, with about 10 million people in the country of 50 million having been born elsewhere. Many are from Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco and work in key sectors of the Spanish economy including agriculture, tourism and the services sector. Since at least the mid-1990s, thousands of people cross the Mediterranean each year from north African countries and Turkey in search of asylum in Europe. According to figures from the International Organization for Migration, 35,153 migrant deaths and disappearances have been recored in the Mediterranean since 2014, with 1,493 dead or missing during the first seven months of 2026. Why have so many people managed to cross over? It was not immediately clear. Moroccan authorities have not yet issued a statement, and it is unclear how hard they tried to prevent the crossings. However, the crossing could be linked to the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, and a recent trip by the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to Algiers. The last mass border crossing, in May 2021, took place after Morocco loosened border controls during a diplomatic row with Spain over Spain’s decision to allow the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, the Polisario Front, to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Morocco and the Polisario Front both lay claim to Western Sahara, which was under Spanish rule until 1975, when colonial authorities handed over the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its longstanding policy of neutrality and backed Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara – a move that had caused a diplomatic rift between Madrid and Algiers, which supports the Polisario group. Sánchez visited Algiers on 20 July – the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years – marking a thaw in relations with Algeria. Speaking from Ceuta on Friday, Sánchez blamed the sudden inflow on human traffickers spreading rumours about a recent Spanish supreme court ruling that irregular migrants arriving by sea cannot be immediately returned. Matteo Villa, a migration researcher at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, said politics was most likely involved. “What happened in 2021 was the small-scale version of what happened yesterday,” he said. “I mean, 50,000 people do not come overnight when usually it’s hundreds per month. Sánchez going to Algeria is something Morocco didn’t really like.” Villa suggested Morocco may have loosened the border as a way of showing it has “the upper hand”, especially because authorities there know it would cause an overreaction in Europe. “They love seeing all the fighting between European countries,” he added. How have governments and authorities reacted? Spain deployed its armed forces and additional police to restore order after the breach, which Sánchez described as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”. Images and footage of the border chaos sparked a crisis for the Spanish government and divisions within the EU, where rightwing politicians blamed the incident on Spain’s policy of legalising hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants this year. Italy’s far-right government went so far as to call for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone – even though Ceuta and Melilla do not fall under Schengen arrangements in the usual way – while France tightened its borders with the country.