'Wildfire Hell' Sweeps Europe... Spain Declares National State of Emergency

Simultaneous Wildfires Spread Amid Heatwaves and Drought
France Requests Firefighting Aircraft and Helicopter Support from the EU

As wildfires spread across various parts of Europe, Spain has declared a national state of emergency due to wildfires for the first time in its history. France has requested firefighting assistance from the European Union (EU).

According to The Guardian and other sources on July 24 (local time), the Spanish government declared a national state of emergency the previous night after multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously and spread due to a heatwave, dry weather, and strong winds. In the Madrid metropolitan area alone, about 10,000 people evacuated, and military emergency response units have been deployed.

Residents staying at temporary shelters due to wildfires in Avila, Spain. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated on X (formerly Twitter): "The government is deploying all available resources to contain the fires affecting areas such as Avila, Leon, Toledo, and Madrid," while urging the public to remain alert.

Since the beginning of this year, wildfires in Spain have burned 125,000 hectares, which exceeds twice the area of Seoul. Record-breaking heatwaves, dry conditions, and winds are fueling the spread of these wildfires. The day before, in Murcia, the temperature rose as high as 44.7 degrees Celsius, and on July 22, temperatures in several cities in Avila reached up to 42 degrees Celsius.

In France, 32 wildfires of varying sizes occurred simultaneously. In the Gironde region in the southwest, more than 10,000 hectares have burned and around 40,000 people have evacuated. In the nearby Landes region, 2,500 hectares were destroyed and 23,000 residents have taken refuge.

To swiftly contain the wildfires, France requested assistance from the European Union. President Emmanuel Macron posted on X, stating, "The situation is extremely urgent due to the wildfires," and that "we have requested the activation of the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism."

The Civil Protection Mechanism is a system that allows an EU member state facing a major disaster to request support from other member states.

President Macron announced that, as a result, France will quickly receive support in the form of two amphibious firefighting aircraft from Croatia, two Air Tractor helicopters from Portugal, and two Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.