<p>Tens of thousands of people fled their homes on Friday as wildfires ravaged large areas of France and Spain, driven by intense summer heat across Western Europe.</p><p>In southwestern France, authorities ordered the evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, a popular Atlantic holiday destination, with hundreds leaving by boat as a fast-moving wildfire neared.</p><p> firefighting teams described the fires as highly unpredictable, with one in the Landes region labeled an “XXL” wildfire and another burning nearby, described as the “two ogres of the summer.”</p><p>Overall, more than 60,000 people in France had fled their homes, according to the interior minister.</p><p>In Spain, wildfires in the Madrid area forced more than 19,000 people to evacuate and had burned almost 15,000 acres by Friday afternoon, with fires approaching populated areas.</p><p>The regional president of Madrid said this was the worst wildfire in the region’s history and prioritized saving lives while evacuations were organized for threatened towns.</p><p>The Spanish government requested additional EU resources after declaring a national emergency over the fires in Madrid.</p><p>Interior officials warned that several fires could merge into a larger blaze, expressing concern on Friday that the situation remained critical.</p><p>The fires in France and Spain are part of a broader European pattern this summer, marked by heat waves and extreme temperatures since late May, with June described as the hottest on record in Western Europe according to a monitoring agency. A wildfire in southeastern Spain earlier in the month killed 13 people, highlighting the deadly potential of these events.</p><p>France has also experienced unusually severe wildfires, with the president noting multiple outbreaks across the country this summer. </p>
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