Arabic version: فرنسا تُجلي كاب فيريه مع استمرار حرائق الغابات

According to BBC News, French authorities have ordered the evacuation of the entire Cap Ferret peninsula on France’s south-west coast as wildfires continue to burn in the Gironde region. Hundreds of people have left by boat, while others have been instructed to leave by road.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 40,000 people had either been evacuated or were being evacuated from the peninsula, a tourism destination west of Bordeaux between the Atlantic and the Bay of Arcachon. The fires began on Tuesday in Saumos and had consumed 8,700 hectares, or around 21,500 acres, by Friday morning. Nuñez said 80 homes had burned, with around 50 completely destroyed.

Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas ordered the final phase of the evacuation early on Friday. People were told to use the D106 road towards Bordeaux, the peninsula’s only land route out, while boats were available from four piers between 07:00 and 10:00 local time. A local councillor said 2,000 evacuees had already arrived by boat at Arcachon. The mayor of Arès also said the town was being evacuated.

Elsewhere on France’s Atlantic coast, another major fire near Biscarrosse in the Landes region has led to more than 23,000 evacuations. About 18,000 people in Biscarrosse and 5,000 in Parentis-en-Born left homes, campsites, a nursing home and a summer camp. Two firefighters died on Tuesday while tackling a blaze near Bordeaux airport, though no further casualties were reported overnight.

President Emmanuel Macron described the wildfire situation as “very tense”, particularly in Gironde, and said France had requested European Union help. Aircraft from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were expected. In Spain, the government declared a national emergency as fires near Madrid and in Ávila burned out of control; local emergency services said more than 10,000 people had been evacuated.