France evacuates Cap Ferret peninsula as Spanish wildfires merge near Madrid – as it happened

And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today.

• More than 80,000 people have fled huge wildfires in Spain and France as Madrid declared a national emergency and French authorities ordered the total evacuation, by land and sea, of one of the country’s best-known holiday spots.

• Both countries have triggered the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism to get help with battling the blaze (9:48, 10:53, 13:24).

• Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez warned the country faced “a dramatic situation,” after a rare decision to declare a rare state of national emergency (11:03, 11:31), and satellite pictures showing the scale of devastation (13:59).

In other news,

• A Romanian ⁠F-16 fighter jet shot down ⁠a drone ​that had entered its airspace on Friday, president Nicușor Dan said, with authorities investigating its origin (16:30).

• Germany’s embattled and deeply unpopular chancellor, Friedrich Merz, sought to turn a scandal into an opportunity with a mini cabinet reshuffle (16:08), as he desperately hopes to turn his rock-bottom poll ratings around.

• Poland’s main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has split, after former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his allies said they were forced out (16:21) over factional disagreements on policy direction ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.

If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.

I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

in Madrid

Spanish authorities are also worried about the prospect of the blazes in Madrid and Ávila coming together to form a single fire.

On Friday afternoon, Nicanor Sen, the central government’s delegate to the Castilla y León region – which lies to the northwest of Madrid – said there was “very little time left” before the fires could merge.

in Madrid

Spain’s far-right Vox party is adamant that the current wildfires have nothing to do with the climate emergency and everything to do with a failure to clear rural areas of excess vegetation and to invest in firefighting services.

In a post on X, they have said:

“It’s not climate change, it’s the lack of clearing of the woodlands and the means to combat the fires.”

But as Spanish wildfire experts have pointed out, the reality is a little more complicated than that.

Here’s some detail from one of our stories yesterday:

“Spanish wildfire scientists said they were not surprised by the extreme figures as the abandonment of rural land had left more overgrown vegetation and the rise in temperatures from climate breakdown made it easier for such plant matter to dry out and burn.

Víctor Resco de Dios, a professor of forestry engineering and global change at the University of Lleida, said:

‘Although it’s difficult to predict how far things might go, we will soon be unable to rule out Dantesque scenarios like those seen in California or Australia, with fires or fire complexes reaching hundreds of thousands of hectares or even a million hectares.’”

Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been blunt in highlighting the deadly role played by the climate emergency. He has also repeatedly urged other parties to agree a “state pact” to tackle the changing climate.

“It’s not just about reacting when these fires hit; it’s also about preventing them, building perimeters, and about teaching people how to react when a fire – or any of the civil emergencies that are unfortunately becoming more common – hits,” he said in the aftermath of this month’s deadly fires in Almería.

He added:

“I’ve said it many times before, but the climate emergency kills. We’re seeing that across Europe and we’re seeing that in Spain.”

It’s also worth reading this piece by our colleague Ajit Niranjan on the causes of Spain’s growing wildfires:

A ⁠Russian ballistic missile strike on Friday in Ukraine’s Kyiv region killed 10 people ⁠and injured close to ⁠100 ​others at a site where a defence industry event was being held, Ukrainian ⁠officials and industry representatives said.

A Russian aerial bomb also killed five people in the frontline city of Sloviansk and damaged Latvia’s honorary consulate there.

Latvia’s president Edgars Rinkēvičs said the attack on the consulate was “yet another Russian war crime.” “We will continue to support the work of our honorary consul Oleksandr Pavenko, and all who remain on the frontlines helping their people,” he added.

European Council president António Costa said the strike was “a grave and unacceptable act.” “I strongly condemn this strike, which claimed lives and left many injured,” he said.

The latest strikes comes as the White House confirmed that US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday, as first revealed by the rightwing US influencer Laura Loomer, who has previously minimised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amplified Kremlin propaganda to her nearly 2 million followers on social media, but is now in Kyiv and supports Ukraine.

A Romanian ⁠F-16 fighter jet shot down ⁠a drone ​that had entered its airspace on Friday, president Nicușor Dan said.

Dan did not specify the origin of the drone and said an investigation was under way.

The army’s chief of staff, Gheorghiță Vlad, said the drone visually “looked to be a Shahed type,” but warned it was too early to draw conclusions.

Fragments of the drone fell on a wheat field but caused ⁠no damage or injuries, the prefect of Buzau County told reporters.

An army source told Reuters: “There is an ongoing ⁠investigation to determine the origin of the drone. But in this part of the world it is ​Russia that is the attacker.”

Reuters pointed out that Romania has reported multiple breaches ​of its airspace by Russian drones since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports across the ​Danube River following ‌its full-scale invasion in 2022.

In ​late May, a drone ​crashed into an apartment building in the town of Galati, injuring two people.

Poland’s main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has split, after former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his allies said they were forced out over factional disagreements on policy direction ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.

Speaking at a press conference, the party’s longtime leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, said dozens of members of parliament effectively left the party after refusing to sign a loyalty oath.

All those who refused to sign the pledge were deemed by Kaczyński to have effectively resigned from the party. The rebel MPs insisted they did not intend to leave, but conceded they may be formally expelled at a party meeting on Tuesday.

“Everyone knew what they were signing, and at the same time everyone knew what the consequences of not signing would be … It’s all done,” Kaczyński said, adding that the decision will be formally processed during the party’s leadership meeting on Tuesday.

Law and Justice is one of Poland’s two most successful political parties since 1989, having ruled the country for 10 years in 2005-2007 and 2015-2023, with its candidates winning four out of eight presidential elections.

Despite losing to a coalition of pro-European parties led by former European Council president Donald Tusk and going into opposition at the last election in 2023, PiS remained the largest party in the Polish parliament – a status it could lose as a result of the split.

The resignations come after months of increasingly bitter disagreements in Poland’s main opposition party as it lost its grip on the Polish right.

in Berlin

Germany’s embattled and deeply unpopular chancellor, Friedrich Merz, sought to turn a scandal into an opportunity with a mini cabinet reshuffle on Friday.

Health minister Nina Warken, who recently spearheaded a tricky cost-cutting drive in what Merz called the biggest sector of the German economy, will become his chief of staff. That will bring a rare woman into Merz’s political inner circle and make her the first female to manage affairs at the chancellery in the history of the federal republic.

This round of musical chairs in Berlin will see the former chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, become head of the parliamentary group of Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU). The party’s general secretary Carsten Linnemann, will replace Warken at the health ministry, leaving him to implement the reforms she boxed through parliament this month.

Merz said he’d announce more changes in the coming days, with widespread speculation transport minister Patrick Schnieder will be out given disappointment with his efforts to modernize the rail network and other crucial infrastructure despite a big public funding injection.

Philipp Amthor, a media-savvy former regional head of the CDU’s youth wing, was tapped as new state minister responsible for managing the federal government’s relations with Germany’s 16 states.

Merz said his new lineup “follows a clear trajectory”.

“We want a government that works with great vigour and pleasure and reflects the diversity of our society and politics. We are a reform government and we want to keep demonstrating that.”

The whole chapter, which in the terms of German politics went off at lightning speed, began just over a week ago. The ambitious head of the CDU parliamentary group, Jens Spahn, announced that he and his husband had welcomed a baby born to a surrogate in the United States.

The news drew immediate accusations of hypocrisy given Spahn’s outspoken opposition to surrogacy, which is illegal in Germany. He initially indicated his desire to ride out the storm but by last Saturday, Merz withdrew his support and Spahn resigned.

Many in Berlin saw the chance for Merz to reorder his personnel as an opportunity given his rock-bottom poll ratings and the surge of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party ahead of three key state elections in September.

Merz, who has a rash streak coupled with uneven communication skills, is the most disliked federal chancellor in postwar history.

Coupled with an economic reform drive that he recently unveiled, Merz is using the reshuffle to signal a fresh start to German voters who, polls show, have lost confidence in his government’s ability to jumpstart the ailing economy and map a return to strength for the EU’s biggest nation.

More areas in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France see evacuation orders, with the local authorities telling residents of Arès, Andernos, Le Temple and Saumos to leave as a precautionary measure.

As wildfires are burning in parts of the UK and Europe, forcing people to leave their homes, disrupting travel and affecting communities, we would like to hear how the fires have impacted you.

Have you had to evacuate your home? How are you coping? Are you living with smoke, poor air quality or the threat of evacuation? We would like to hear about your experiences.

in Madrid

Meanwhile, the Spanish emergency services warned that the two wildfires near Madrid “have now merged, forming a single blaze.”

The civil protection emergency coordination centre has sent a mobile phone alert to people in the municipalities of Chapinería, Navas del Rey, and Colmenar del Arroyo, ordering their evacuation.

“They should head to the following reception points: Navalcarnero, Móstoles, Alcorcón, Leganés, Brunete, Villanueva de la Cañada, Villaviciosa de Odón, and Las Rozas.”

The coordination centre has also requested the lockdown of the municipalities of San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Pelayos de la Presa. A level 3 national emergency declaration remains in place.

This satellite picture, posted last night by the Spanish state meteorological office, Aemet, is quite dramatic.

It shows the smoke plumes from the fires in Madrid and Ávila:

Earlier today, the European Commission said it was following the situation in France and Spain with “great concern,” deploying its firefighting planes under the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.

The EU has a fleet of 22 planes and five helicopters ready to deploy, alongside over 700 firefighters “pre-positioned” across the key risk areas.

Four firefighting planes will be sent to help in Spain, and three to France, it said.

“We obviously hope that all hell will not break loose but we are preparing for a severe situation given that we will be seeing these extreme weather events more frequently, and they will be harshed and more brutal,” EU spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.

Two of three wildfires raging west of Madrid are “on the verge of merging“ into a single blaze, the regional government’s representative in Madrid said on Friday, warning that the fire was “out of control”, AFP reported.

“Two fires, the one in San Martin and the one in Villa del Prado, are on the verge of merging and becoming a single blaze advancing towards Navas del Rey,” Francisco Martin told reporters, adding that further villages in the area were being evacuated.

The main priority for firefighters tackling wildfires raging in villages around Madrid is to prevent the “convergence” of the blazes, Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters on Friday.

The authorities were dealing with an “unfavourable situation” due to strong wind gusts of more than 50 kilometres (30 miles) per hour, low humidity and high temperatures, he added in comments reported by AFP and made during a visit to the emergency command centre in the village of Cenicientos.

Several municipalities remained under confinement orders on Friday, AFP noted.

More than 430 elderly people and people with disabilities from five care homes were among the evacuated, the regional government of Madrid said in a statement.

Europe correspondent

Authorities in south-western France have ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast by land and sea as an “intense and highly unpredictable” wildfire advances on one of the country’s best-known holiday spots.

The fire had burned more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) by Friday morning, the French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said, with 40,000 people already or about to be evacuated, including thousands of tourists from campsites and rental homes.

Boats began ferrying holidaymakers and residents off four piers on the peninsula early on Thursday after the Gironde prefecture ordered its progressive evacuation, “village by village”, by sea or by the only road linking the area with the mainland.

Brutal heat, as climate breakdown triggers more frequent and extreme weather events – causing thousands of excess deaths, evaporating soils and fuelling wildfires – has also prompted Spain to declare a national emergency, with blazes burning out of control.

in Madrid

Worth stressing that the declaration of a national emergency in Spain is a big deal.

The move – which allows the central government to assume overall control of powers and responsibilities that are usually the domain of Spain’s self-governing regions – has only happened once before, which was during the nationwide blackout in April 2025.

Spain’s regional governments are sometimes reluctant to cede their powers to the central government when emergencies occur.

The deadly floods that hit Valencia at the end of October 2024, killing more than 230 people, were classified as a level 2 emergency, meaning that the regional government was in charge of the response effort.

Had the disaster been declared a level 3 emergency at the request of the Valencian government, then the central government would have stepped in – as has happened with the current wildfires.

Over in France, it’s not just the south-west that gets affected, but the country’s south-east regions are also being hard hit, AFP noted.

Dozens of fires flared up and are being fanned by the mistral wind around the historic village of Cotignac – officials saying around 25 houses had been destroyed since Tuesday.

in Madrid

In an update issued on Friday morning, Spain’s environment ministry said 114,796.42 hectares of land had been burned by forest fires so far this year, compared with 25,133.26 by the same time last year.

It also said that 29 big forest fires had been recorded so far in 2026. That figure represents a huge increase from the average of nine big forest fires between January and the end of July per year over the past decade.

in Madrid

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez responded to the wildfires ravaging parts of country and neighbouring France, amid heightened warnings about their further spread.

In a post on X, he said:

“We’re living through a dramatic situation, not just in various Spanish provinces but also in regions of neighbouring countries. Forest fires are devastating thousands of hectares and affecting numerous communities.

“I want to express my deepest solidarity with all those who are watching the fire burn their forests and threaten their homes. The government has deployed all available resources. It will be by your side during the emergency and the recovery. Thank you to the BRIF (Forest Fire Brigades), the UME (Military Emergency Unit), the Security Forces, the Civil Protection System, and all the emergency services that are fighting day and night to stop the advance of the flames and extinguish the fire.”

in Madrid

On Thursday night, authorities in the Madrid region asked the central government to step in and declare the fires around the region a national emergency.

Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, commended the people of the region for their response to the fires and thanked the emergency services for their efforts.

“We remain attentive minute by minute, deeply grateful for the work, solidarity, and patience of everyone,” she said. “As soon as the magnitude of this disaster is known, the Community of Madrid will announce aid and plans to mitigate its consequences.”

In a video posted on social media, the shift commander for Madrid’s emergency medical services urged people to be extra vigilant as the fires continued to burn.

“If people notice smoke or ashes in the air, we recommend that they do not take part in any outdoor activities,” said Ester Armela. “If people have any chronic breathing problems of allergies, they should use facemasks when going outside.” If people developed serious symptoms, she added, people they should ring the 112 emergency line.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, chaired an emergency response meeting at the Moncloa palace on Friday morning as the state meteorological office warned that the danger of more fires remained high.

“Today, the fire danger will remain very high or extreme across most of the territory despite the drop in temperatures,” it said. “Conditions will improve slightly over the weekend, but the danger will rise again in the following days.

Spain’s interior ministry has also requested for fire-fighting aircraft through the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism (10:53).

Meanwhile, Spain has also requested the support of four firefighting aircraft through the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, the bloc’s system for coordinating disaster assistance among member states, to help tackle multiple wildfires near Madrid, the interior ministry said.

Overnight, France did the same, as reported earlier (9:48).

There are also two other emerging news lines in Europe this morning.

Romania’s military just shot down a drone breaching its airspace, the country’s president Nicușor Dan said. He said the drone was spotted over an uninhabited area of the country, allowing an F-16 fighter jet to shoot it down “without any risks”.

Elsewhere, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is under a ballistic missile warning with explosions reported across the city, after Ukraine struck warehouses supplying Russian army overnight.

I will keep an eye on both of these stories for you.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, France’s interior minister Laurent Nuñez said that the largest wildfire in Gironde – which started in Somos, but now moved to the Cap Ferret peninsula – has already burned more than 10,000 hectares.

“As I speak, a total of 40,000 people have been or are currently being evacuated due to this fire,” he said.

Nuñez warned that “the fire is currently not under control and continues to spread,” with around 1,000 firefighters involved in battling the blaze.

In total, more than 50,000 hectares have been burned in wildfires since the start of the year.

Thousands of people have been forced to flee parts of south-west France amid worsening wildfires that prompted the authorities to order people to evacuate from the Cap Ferret peninsula along the Atlantic coast.

Evacuees have been told to leave the area before 10am, using hundreds of mobilised boats or the only road linking the area with the mainland.

More than 10,000 hectares are affected by the two concurrent wildfires, which last night crossed the firebreak established by firefighters.

The French authorities formally requested the activation of the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism to tap into the bloc’s resources as they battle the fires, with Emmanuel Macron saying the situation remained “very intense.”

The EU’s crisis commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, confirmed that “following France’s activation of the EU’s civil protection mechanism, the EU is providing assistance and deploying 3 water bomber aircraft.”

Dangerous situation is also unfolding in Spain, with the Spanish government declaring a national emergency over wildfires near Madrid and Avila, forcing more than 10,000 people to evacuate.

I will bring you all the updates here.

It’s Friday, 24 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.