{"id":461160,"date":"2026-07-27T16:35:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/07\/27\/spagna-e-francia-in-fiamme-lahbib-una-corsa-contro-il-tempo-lavoriamo-senza-sosta\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:21:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:21:26","slug":"spain-and-france-ablaze-lahbib-its-a-race-against-time-were-working-round-the-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/07\/27\/spain-and-france-ablaze-lahbib-its-a-race-against-time-were-working-round-the-clock\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain and France ablaze, Lahbib: “It\u2019s a race against time; we\u2019re working round the clock”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Thirteen people have died and over 300,000 have been evacuated from their homes. This is the tragic toll so far caused by the severe wildfires that are destroying forests in south-western France, around the Bordeaux region, and in central Spain, near the capital Madrid. With high temperatures and winds fuelling the spread of the flames, thousands of hectares of woodland are going up in smoke. \u201cThe fires have spread across more than 42,000 hectares in France and 80,000 in Spain, and in both countries the situation is out of control,\u201d a European official said today (27 July). Brussels is alarmed by the situation and has already activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism. \u201cNo country should ever have to face a disaster of this magnitude on its own\u201d and for this reason \u201cEurope has established a joint response capability: aircraft in the sky, firefighters on the ground and additional support ready to step in when needed,\u201d reiterated the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib<\/strong>. However, bringing the fires under control is extremely difficult. This is particularly true as Madrid and Paris fear the situation will worsen, given that a new heatwave with temperatures of up to 40 degrees is forecast for the coming hours. Around 75,000 residents have been evacuated from areas in Madrid, \u00c1vila, Toledo and the eastern region of Castell\u00f3n in Valencia. And despite European aid, \u201cthe situation is not under control,\u201d the EU official pointed out. <\/p>\n

“The climate emergency and rising temperatures are causing the spread and severity of the wildfires we are experiencing to increase exponentially,” stated Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/strong>, who does not deny that some of the fires were started deliberately and that \u201cinvestigations are underway to clarify the circumstances.\u201d And while <\/span>S\u00e1nchez warned that \u201cdifficult hours\u201d lie ahead for the Spanish authorities and citizens, the French President, Emmanuel Macron<\/strong>, chaired an interministerial crisis meeting this morning at the Ministry of the Interior and visited the Gironde, where the \u201cmost violent fire in the last 50 years\u201d is raging. At the end of the meeting, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunez<\/strong>, outlined the figures relating to the emergency (since the start of the summer, 13,566 fires or outbreaks have been recorded, burning a total area of 116,085 hectares) and described the situation as \u201can absolutely unprecedented, exceptional season\u201d and \u201cfar from over.\u201d In France, in particular, the fires that have been spreading since Wednesday in the Gironde department have not only devastated 42,000 hectares but have also forced the evacuation of around 220,000 people, destroyed at least 240 homes, forced 45 campsites, with their approximately 40,000 holidaymakers, to close, while a further 30,000 people have fled the flames raging in other regions of France. So far, nearly 2,500 firefighters have been deployed, 84 of whom have been injured (one seriously as a result of an explosion). <\/p>\n

This situation is causing concern for the EU and Brussels, particularly given the risk that it could worsen. According to a senior European official, the common factor in the fires in both countries \u201cis their complexity, as well as the difficulty in extinguishing them due to the urban area affected.\u201d This means that \u201cthe fire is spreading to both residential and industrial areas, placing a heavy strain on national resources and the national strategy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

To tackle the situation, the two countries have activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the key instrument that coordinates the rapid, solidarity-based response of the EU and participating countries to natural or man-made disasters when emergencies exceed individual states\u2019 capacity to manage them on their own<\/strong>. So far, the EU has deployed to France two Air Tractor fire-fighting aircraft from Portugal; one Black Hawk helicopter from Slovakia and one from the Czech Republic; one Canadair fire-fighting aircraft from Croatia; two water-bombing aircraft and a technical team, both from Sweden. Germany will shortly send two more helicopters, and two more are expected from Turkey. Two Canadair fire-fighting aircraft from Greece have arrived in Spain, along with two aircraft from Italy\u2014plus two deployed by Turkey\u2014and three ground-based forest fire-fighting teams from Portugal, comprising 134 firefighters and 41 vehicles. <\/p>\n

The Berlaymont Building has announced that the EU\u2019s Copernicus satellite service<\/strong>\u2014the European Earth observation programme managed by the European Commission\u2014is also providing <\/strong>\u201creal-time emergency maps to support operations on the ground<\/strong>,\u201d while the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre<\/a> remains in close contact with the French and Spanish authorities to assess what further support can be mobilised. At present, a European Commission liaison officer is in Bordeaux to help the national authorities coordinate EU assistance. As part of the <\/a>preparatory measures taken by the EU<\/b><\/a> for this year\u2019s fire season, firefighting teams from other European countries were already present in France and Spain before the fires broke out, enabling them to immediately reinforce national emergency services. <\/p>\n

Most of the assets provided by the European Union are part of the firefighting fleet of rescEU<\/a>, the Union\u2019s strategic emergency and civil protection reserve, which comprises 22 aeroplanes and 5<\/span> helicopters. In clarifying the arrangements for its deployment, the European official explained that \u201cthe first level of response consists of voluntary offers from Member States\u201d and participating states, and where this is not sufficient \u201cto ensure a predictable and comprehensive response\u201d, recourse is made to the European Civil Protection Pool<\/a>.<\/span> These resources may consist of rescue teams or medical teams, experts, specialised equipment or transport. Should these two levels, voluntary offers and the pool,  prove insufficient, \u201cthe Commission has an additional level of capacity called \u2018Rescue\u2019, a safety net within the system that supplements the Member States\u2019 response\u201d, the official explained. Furthermore, when a country sends an aircraft, it must provide a vehicle \u201c<\/span>that is technically suited to the geographical features, water resources, and infrastructure of the area.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Emergency response, however, should only come after other preparatory steps have been taken. \u201cToday we are talking about response, but we are well aware that response alone is not enough,\u201d  because \u201cmany of these fires reach levels that exceed our capacity to extinguish them,\u201d the EU official explained. Therefore, the Commission\u2019s priority is \u201cto make resilience to forest fires an integral part of our planning and investments for the future.\u201d In this context, \u201ca key part of this work is preparedness and prevention,\u201d which means action will also need to be taken in relation to the \u201cnext Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In one proposal, <\/span>“35 per cent is earmarked for climate resilience, which obviously already includes adaptation to weather events caused by climate change,” alongside a \u201csimplification of access to funding for regions following extreme weather events, as most of the restoration work will be borne by local communities and the regions themselves.\u201d Furthermore, \u201ca Council recommendation on the integrated management of forest fire risk, a matter due for approval shortly” will be put forward, as risk information is essential “to ensure that local communities, residents, tourists, and citizens are better informed and receive all necessary information in a timely manner, with early warnings and local preparedness.” All these measures aim to ensure we are \u201cready for the start of the next season, because, unfortunately, what is happening now will become an annual occurrence<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d Therefore, the aim is \u201cnot to fight any more fires, but rather to have comprehensive global policies that minimise the risk and prevent fires from the outset,\u201d he concluded. <\/span><\/p>\n

But as regards the current emergency, Lahbib admitted that \u201cour teams are currently engaged in a race against time on the ground<\/strong>\u201d. However, she assured: \u201cWe are working round the clock.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirteen people have died, over 300,000 have been evacuated, more than 122,000 hectares of woodland have been burnt, and the situation is likely to worsen due to the high temperatures forecast for the coming hours. The EU is providing assistance to the two countries through the Civil Protection Mechanism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":461121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25712],"tags":[25871,26261,35063,26944,27736,28119,27493,30861,26949,26655,27709,27179,32184,26360,26870,26746],"class_list":["post-461160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-boschi","tag-croatia-en","tag-czechrepublic-en","tag-mechanism-of-civil-protection-en","tag-greece-en","tag-hadja-lahbib-en-2","tag-incendi-en","tag-financialframework-pluriennial-en","tag-pedro-sanchez-en","tag-portugal-en","tag-riscaldamento-climatico-en","tag-slovakia-and","tag-spain-en","tag-turkey-en-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461161,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461160\/revisions\/461161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}