NEARLY 300,000 PEOPLE EVACUATED

PARIS, JULY 26 /SRNA/ – The number of people forced to leave their homes in France and Spain due to wildfires has now risen to nearly 300,000, Sky News reports.

Since the fires began, more than 220,000 people have been displaced in France, including 55,000 evacuated from the Gironde region.

Spanish authorities said that 73,000 people have been evacuated so far.

Major wildfires remain out of control in southwestern France and central Spain.

Some of the fires near Madrid have merged into larger blazes.

Meanwhile, according to Spain's Ministry of Interior, the body of a man was found inside a car near Valencia. Earlier reports said that dozens of people had been injured in the wildfires near Valencia.

In France, shifting winds have driven the fires to within about 30 kilometers of Bordeaux. The government has taken steps to evacuate residents from suburbs of the country's ninth-largest city.

Two people were arrested in Cap Ferret for smoking and using a barbecue earlier this week.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that all of the country's civilian and military resources had been mobilized to fight the wildfires and pledged that affected communities would recover.

"We will rebuild, we will repair, and we will be there for as long as necessary," he said.

However, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned that the situation in the southwestern Gironde region, where Bordeaux is located, "remains particularly critical". He added that this is a "historic situation" and that nearly 100,000 hectares of land have burned so far.

France deployed 1,500 soldiers to Gironde last night following an emergency meeting on the wildfire response.

The French government said it has received assistance from other EU member states in the form of vehicles, personnel, and military aircraft. Germany has also announced that it is providing support.

Spain previously declared a state of emergency because of the wildfires.