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The United Arab Emirates has expressed its solidarity with the French Republic following the wildfires in southwestern France, resulting in the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) expressed the UAE’s solidarity with the government and people of France in confronting these wildfires, while wishing safety for all.
Wildfires advanced towards the outskirts of the historic French city of Bordeaux, at the heart of the country’s winelands, on Sunday as France and Spain battled blazes that have already forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.
About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, while in Spain more than 75,000 people have been evacuated and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, authorities said.
In France, fires have ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, a popular tourist destination, and spread through areas surrounding Bordeaux, where firefighters were trying to prevent the flames from reaching the regional capital.
“The fire is about 15 kilometres away from the entry points to the main city,” Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said on Sunday, while Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X that the situation remained “difficult”.
As the blaze advanced, police officers went door-to-door overnight in the municipalities of Marcheprime and Cestas, evacuating residents one home at a time, with footage released by French authorities showing officers knocking on doors in the dark to urge people to leave.
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central provinces affected by major blazes, alongside Madrid and Toledo.
Flames have devastated more than 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) of countryside in Avila, making it the biggest wildfire in Spain’s recent history, according to Environment Minister Sara Aagesen.
A separate blaze in Spain’s eastern Castellon province has ravaged over 4,300 hectares, regional authorities said.
“The fire is out of control, it’s very difficult to extinguish from a technical standpoint, especially because of the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day,” the regional leader of Valencia, Juanfran Perez, told reporters near the site.
The wildfire has entered the Sierra de Espadan natural park containing large forests of pine trees and cork oaks.
The fires are the latest disasters linked to prolonged drought and successive heatwaves that scientists say have been intensified by climate change.
In both Bordeaux and Avila, July high temperatures have averaged 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), almost 6 C above the month’s normal high between 1961 and 1990, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.
Under the European Union’s civil protection mechanism, Greece and Italy have each sent two Canadair firefighting aircraft to Spain, while Portugal has deployed more than 100 military personnel along with equipment.
Two more planes will arrive “as soon as possible” from Turkey, the Spanish interior ministry said on X.
Agencies
