Wildfires near Madrid and in southwestern France force over 90,000 to evacuate

Wildfires in Spain and southwestern France forced more than 90,000 people to flee, with Madrid declaring a national emergency as several large blazes merged and spread in searing heat and strong winds. In France, authorities ordered the complete evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula “village by village,” describing an intense and highly unpredictable fire that had burned through more than 12,500 hectares. A second French fire near Biscarrosse led to about 31,000 evacuations. Both countries requested EU firefighting assistance as roads closed and homes were destroyed.