Mass evacuations from fires in France and Spain: Tourists recount terror, “the army knocked on every door”

A wave of devastating fires in the southwestern region of France and central Spain has led to the evacuation of over 270,000 residents and holidaymakers. The rapid spread of the flames is being fueled by extreme temperatures and strong winds, challenging emergency forces.

French military troops have been involved in rescue operations, while Spain has activated nationwide emergency protocols. Although flights to Bordeaux and Madrid are operating without interruption, travelers have been asked to strictly follow the instructions of the authorities. Éléonore Caroit, French minister for international partnerships, stressed that the vast majority of French territory is not affected and urged visitors not to cancel their reservations, but to stay updated on the situation’s progress.

A large number of tourists have described the chaotic moments of departure to the BBC. Their accounts include alarm signals that jolted them awake in the late hours, convoys of cars migrating alongside giant tongues of fire, and thousands of people gathered on beaches or in shelters with their luggage in hand.

One witness to these events is 21-year-old Zac Morrison from London, who was vacationing with his relatives on the Cap Ferret peninsula. He received several urgent notifications on his phone during the night ordering an immediate evacuation. “The French army was knocking on every door. It looked exactly like a movie scene, we had to take whatever we could. Other people spent the night in schools and warehouses, and on the beaches there were holidaymakers just waiting for an order,” he told the BBC. His family moved from one danger zone only to encounter another fire front, as many evacuees took shelter along the coast, in school classrooms, and in depots turned into reception centers.

David Morton from Gloucestershire had a similar experience. He recounted that he had only a few minutes to leave with his entire family from the campsite grounds in Cap Ferret, while the flames approached them dangerously along the road. “A message arrived on our phones instructing us to evacuate without delay and to follow the only exit route from the peninsula,” he recalled.

In the commune of Biscarrosse, Rebecca Papin watched firefighting planes and helicopters battling the fire fronts throughout the night, but she was never given the order to leave. The next morning, she found that the town was almost deserted, the roads were blocked by flames, and scorching ash was falling from the sky like snowflakes.

Many holidaymakers have chosen to reschedule their trips. Mark Dorey from Leeds, together with his family, was forced to leave a campsite near Parentis-en-Born and spent the night in a gymnasium filled with hundreds of people, before relocating to the quieter Dordogne region to continue their vacation in an area outside the threat of the flames.