French authorities have ordered the evacuation of the entirety of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the south-west coast, with hundreds of people escaping the area by boat.
Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated from the tourism destination west of Bordeaux, as firefighters continue to battle wildfires that have raged in the Gironde region for days.
The fires, which began on Tuesday in Saumos, continued to burn overnight with 8,700 hectares (around 21,500 acres) consumed by the flames.
Meanwhile, the government in Spain has declared a national emergency as wildfires burn out of control in several areas close to the capital Madrid.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke of a “dramatic situation” and urged people to take great care. Three fires were burning west of Madrid, at Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 40,000 people had either been or were in the process of being evacuated from the Cap Ferret peninsula, which has the Atlantic on one side and the Bay of Arcachon on the other.
“A total of 80 homes have burnt, around 50 of which have been completely destroyed,” he told reporters.
The mayor of Arès, which lies south-east of Lège-Cap Ferret on the Bay of Arcachon, said his town was being evacuated too. A local councillor said 2,000 evacuees from the peninsula had already arrived by boat in the port of Arcachon on the south side of the bay.
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Further down the Atlantic coast, around the town of Biscarosse in France’s Landes region, another major fire that began on Thursday afternoon has prompted the evacuations of more than 23,000 people.
About 18,000 people in Biscarrosse and 5,000 in Parentis-en-Born had to leave their homes, campsites, a nursing home and a summer camp.
No further casualties have been reported overnight in south-west France, although two firefighters died on Tuesday while tackling a blaze near Bordeaux airport.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday night the wildfire situation in the country was “very tense” – especially in the Gironde region.
Macron said he had asked for help from the European Union, and that support would soon come in the form of aircraft from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas ordered the “final phase” of the peninsula evacuation early on Friday morning.
People are being told to leave via the main D106 road towards Bordeaux while boats were being made available for others between 07:00 and 10:00 local time (06:00 BST and 09:00 BST) from four piers.
The road runs along the east side of the peninsula and is the only land route out.
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The Cap Ferret peninsula has a year-round population of just under 8,000 but that can swell by 10 times that number in peak season.
Around 20,000 people within the Gironde region had been evacuated on Thursday many of whom were visitors to campsites on the peninsula.
Further evacuations also took place from La Porge on Thursday night which Ms Brocas said had taken place “calmly”.
She added that homes in evacuated areas would be monitored to prevent any vandalism.
“Significant resources” remain on the ground tackling the blaze while additional ground and air reinforcements are due in the coming hours.
The public has been told not to go to the affected areas.
Spanish forest fires ‘ravaging thousands of hectares’
In Spain, firefighters are tackling wildfires in several areas not far from Madrid and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska declared a national emergency as fires burned at Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias in the Madrid region and at Burgohondo in Ávila.
Pedro Sánchez said forest fires were “ravaging thousands of hectares” and affecting numerous communities.
“The government has deployed all available resources. It will stand by your side during the emergency and in the recovery.”
Local emergency services said more than 10,000 people had been evacuated.
An update on Friday morning described both fires as “out of control” although their progression in recent hours had been “limited”.
Aldea del Fresno and some other areas in the region have been evacuated.
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