Fires in Europe: latest developments

Here are the main developments related to the wildfires raging in Spain and France on Sunday:

55,000 more evacuated near France's Bordeaux

Authorities in France's Gironde region ordered the evacuation of 55,000 more people on Saturday because of a resurgence of the wildfire that has been ravaging the area since Wednesday.

The latest operation brings the number of people evacuated in Gironde to well over 200,000.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said it was "highly likely" to be the largest peacetime civilian evacuation operation ever carried out in France.

Eight more Spanish towns evacuated

Spanish authorities ordered the evacuation of eight more municipalities near Toledo on Saturday evening as wildfires threatened areas west of Madrid.

The interior ministry said residents of Buenaventura, Navamorcuende, Real de San Vicente, Hinojosa de San Vicente, Castillo de Bayuela, Garciotum, Nuno Gomez and Pelahustan had been told to leave.

'Difficult' hours ahead

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned that "the coming hours could be difficult" in Gironde after weather forecasts deteriorated.

Nunez said the blaze would be a long battle and that evacuated residents would not be allowed to return until the fire was brought under control.

Three arrests in Gironde

Three men were arrested on Saturday in Gironde -- where a wildfire has already scorched 32,000 hectares -- on suspicion of endangering lives, prosecutors said. Two of them are accused of setting off fireworks.

Var wildfire still active

Around 2,000 people were still unable to return home in France's southeastern Var department because of the Ponteves wildfire, which authorities said was still "very active" after burning 4,000 hectares in five days.

In Corsica, firefighters were still struggling to contain a blaze near Corte that had spread across more than 800 hectares.

Residents return home

Authorities allowed 3,000 residents to return home on Saturday evening in safe areas of Biscarrosse in France's southwestern Landes department.

Officials said the affected sectors were now considered fully secure.

'We will rebuild'

France's President Emmanuel Macron vowed the damage from the fires would not last, posting on X: "We will rebuild, we will repair and we will be there for as long as is needed."

One dead in Spain

A wildfire in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia killed one person before firefighters brought it under control, authorities there said.

'Grave situation'

The threat to the southwestern French department of Gironde "remains very serious", said top regional official Sophia Brocas.

"We are still facing a grave situation," she added, but the blaze has lost "some of its intensity".

Tonnes of help

A military transport plane deployed by the French government on Saturday to help fight wildfires carried out its first mission in the southwest of the country, AFP journalists saw.

The A400M military aircraft, equipped with a dispensing kit that can release 20 tonnes of water or fire retardant, flew over a forest in Lacanau in southwestern France.

France sends 500 more troops

France's government ordered 500 more soldiers to the wildfire zone in the southwest, bringing the total number deployed to 1,500.

The troops will assist with evacuating residents from areas threatened by the fires and help safeguard homes left unattended during the emergency, the defence ministry said.

Tour de France affected

Tour de France organisers announced that they were shortening the following day's final stage of the cycling race due to the wildfires ravaging southwest France.

"In a spirit of national solidarity with the areas and communities affected, it was decided to adapt the route for the final stage from Thoiry to Paris," organisers ASO said in a statement.

More than 250,000 evacuated

The wildfires have forced the evacuation of more than 250,000 people in total, authorities in both countries said.

The French government said 197,000 people were evacuated because of wildfires near Bordeaux.

Spain's interior ministry said 60,000 people had been evacuated from villages west of Madrid. Officials had earlier given a higher estimate of 70,000.

Record area burnt in France

Fires across France have burned nearly 98,000 hectares (242,163 acres), Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said, describing the total as a "historic record".

"There are still a number of fires across the country that have not yet been brought under control," he said, singling out major blazes in the southwestern departments of Gironde and Landes.