The immediate picture is grim enough on its own. Around 40,000 people were evacuated from the Cap Ferret peninsula near Bordeaux, a packed holiday destination in peak season, after flames jumped a firebreak crews had built overnight and forced an “immediate” evacuation order at 6:30am local time. The fire there has already burned through roughly 8,700 hectares. In Spain, more than 10,000 people were moved out of towns west of Madrid, where three separate fires were burning in the region and neighbouring Ávila province – two of them threatening to merge into one larger blaze – backed by over 270 emergency personnel, 40 ground units and army Military Emergency Unit contingents. Spain has now recorded more than 350 individual fires this year.
