Zürcher Nachrichten - Spanish wildfire evacuees go home as France hit by new heat alert

The neighbouring countries have been gripped by some of the worst forest fires in living memory over the past week, burning vast areas and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Spain lifted remaining evacuation orders for the Avila province on Wednesday, a day after doing so for multiple municipalities west of Madrid.

"Twenty-four thousand evacuated individuals have been able to return to their homes, and another 20,000 have been released from confinement in the Community of Madrid," central government delegate Francisco Martin Aguirre said on X late Tuesday.

Some returned to untouched homes, others found only devastation.

"I'm happy -- I couldn't wait to come home and have my coffee and breakfast," said Maria Jesus Perez Blanca, in her seventies, who was one of about a dozen returnees at the cafes of Aldea del Fresno, west of Madrid on Wednesday morning.

But 12 kilometres (eight miles) away in Pelayos de la Presa, David Rodriguez was knocking down the scorched remains of his home.

"It's a disaster. Just look at it... All my memories, everything I had was here. My dad built it 40 years ago and everything has been lost."

Authorities said on Wednesday that better overnight weather conditions had helped crews reduce the intensity of the fires and stabilise their perimeter.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that firefighters aimed to stabilise and extinguish all the flames if possible on Wednesday.

And Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday that efforts to extinguish a major wildfire near Madrid were progressing "favourably".

In France, the Gironde prefecture reported a second calm night and said the massive fire in the region west of France's wine-making capital of Bordeaux was stable.

- 'Extreme temperatures' -

Nevertheless, conditions were set to worsen as the fourth heatwave of an already intense summer arrived.

"We fear today," said Jeremy Presi, a local business owner volunteering to help firefighters at a water refilling station.

"The tourists can get in their cars and get out of here. Here, it's our home," he added, as fire trucks headed past towards the flames.

The Gironde and neighbouring Landes departments are under an orange-level warning, with temperatures of 41C forecast.

Firefighters fear strengthening winds could fan embers and reignite the blaze.

Authorities predicted winds gusting up to 45 kilometers (28 miles) per hour and falling humidity levels.

Wednesday "will be an important day that we will be watching very closely," said Gironde fire chief Lieutenant Colonel Eric Pitault.

Despite those anxieties, authorities said 57,000 residents of three towns near Bordeaux, who were evacuated on Friday and Saturday, were to be allowed home.

The regional fire service said it was close to completing 127 kilometres (79 miles) of firebreaks, backed by a groundswell of public volunteering.

"We're seeing this outpouring of solidarity -- you can see it at the water points, you can see it at our command posts, where we have more to eat and drink than we could possibly need," said firefighting Captain Wilfried Schneider, with audible emotion.

- Greek fire -

Europe has been gripped by successive heatwaves and a major drought this year, which scientists have attributed to human-caused climate change.

Extreme heat has parched vegetation that had grown vigorously during wet weather earlier in the year, creating tinderbox conditions.

In Spain, 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) of land has burned nationwide, among the largest areas in any January to July period on record according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Spanish authorities have reported marginally different figures.

In France, some 92,000 hectares has burned over the same time, the largest on records that date back two decades.

While the current focus is on Western Europe, the EU warned this week that fire-prone conditions would spread towards the centre of the continent in the coming days.

In Greece, firefighters battled a blaze on the Aegean island of Paros, where strong winds were fanning the flames. Two aircraft and five helicopters were deployed alongside about 100 firefighters to contain the fire, the Greek fire service said.

Just over half of England has been declared in a state of drought after "record-low rain and exceptionally high temperatures", the UK government said Wednesday.

A.P.Huber--NZN