So far, no deaths have been reported in the civilian population, but two French firefighters died earlier this week near Bordeaux.
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said the wildfire in the Gironde region where Bordeaux is located “was less intense last night than we feared” and was no longer a “convective” type of fire that self-fuels through rising currents.
The government delegation in Madrid also said on X early on Saturday that overnight conditions had “greatly aided the fight against the wildfires, which advanced little and decreased in intensity”.
But the battles were far from won.
Spain’s Sanchez warned: “We are going to have some complex hours ahead because although the temperatures have gone down, we do not know exactly how the wind will develop, how strong it will be.”
TINDERBOX CONDITIONS
The fires in Spain and France advanced quickly because of tinderbox conditions worsened by successive heatwaves the two countries have experienced since May.
Scientists say global warming is increasing droughts and causing weather emergencies to become more extreme and more frequent. Europe is the fastest-warming continent due to climate change.
Both countries were receiving EU help in the form of firefighting aircraft from other European countries.
France has deployed 1,000 soldiers to help firefighters near Bordeaux, and on Saturday the government ordered an A400M military transport aircraft modified to release up to 20 tonnes of fire retardant to join the fleet of smaller planes already dousing flames.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called a new government crisis meeting on the wildfires for later Saturday, just one day after chairing a previous one.
The head of the Paris fire brigade told AFP that 100 firefighters from the French capital were also being deployed to help in the southwest, adding to 45 firefighters and six vehicles already sent there.
Emergency shelters were set up in schools and gymnasiums in southwestern France for tourists and residents left wondering what they would return to.