Wildfires in France and Spain force 200,000 to flee
The fires in Spain and France advanced quickly because of tinderbox conditions worsened by successive heatwaves.
More than 200,000 people have been forced to flee parts of Western Europe on Saturday as out-of-control wildfires continued to rage in Spain and France.
Thick black ash coated roof terraces in the north of Madrid's center, the Spanish capital, with residents forced to keep their windows closed by the smell of throat-irritating smoke.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, visiting the fire zone near Madrid, said the priority was to "save lives" while warning that a "complex" fight lay ahead. His government declared a national emergency.
Fires have burned 130,000 hectares of forest already this year in Spain, up from an annual average of 100,000 hectares over the past decade, Sanchez said. He said more favorable weather on Saturday offered "a window of opportunity" for fire crews to bring the blazes under control.
Among those who fled from a suburban town was audiovisual technician Luis, who had spent the afternoon helping evacuees from the village of Pelayos de la Presa when he received the order to evacuate.
"I cried at first because it's where I grew up. But now, it's more a feeling of anger and resignation, because there's nothing we can do as long as we're not allowed to go back and see what we'll find there," he told AFPTV.