Spain, Greece, France and Portugal ravaged by wildfires as Brits warned over popular holiday spots

Spain, Greece, France and Portugal ravaged by wildfires as Brits warned over popular holiday spots Wildfires are raging across southern Europe with thousands evacuated, and warnings more could come in the next heatwave with travellers being urged to make sure their phones receive emergency alerts Wildfires are raging across Brits’ favourite holiday hot spots in Spain, Greece, France and Portugal. Travellers are being warned to make sure their phones are set to allow emergency alerts as fast-moving flames leave thousands fleeing their homes in parts of Europe. Flames have ripped through almost 50,000 acres of land across southern Europe - damaging an area about the size of the entire city of Liverpool. Officials have banned spectators from a stage of the Tour de France, amid warnings of “powder keg” conditions. Thousands of people have been evacuated and thousands of emergency services are tackling fast-spreading fires, after record-breaking early summer heatwaves hit Europe with temperatures exceeding 40C. And as temperatures are expected to rise again this week with the third potential heatwave seeing temperatures climb to 40C in Europe and above 31C in the UK later this week, it is feared more fires could break out. In the UK, although this year has so far escaped the number of wildfires seen in 2025, it is feared if they do erupt after the recent record breaking heatwaves they could be "more intense." The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) spokesperson for the UK told The Mirror: “While wildfire numbers this year have not yet reached the scale we encountered last year, the risk picture is evolving. If the hot, dry weather continues, we could see wildfires becoming larger, more intense and more challenging for fire and rescue services to tackle." In a popular tourist hotspot of Playja d-Aro beach resort in the Costa Brava, around 150 people were evacuated including 70 children from a holiday camp. Catalan police said a man had been arrested on suspicion of starting the fire “while he was using an angle grinder by the roadside”. Firefighters in eastern Spain battled flames in the Sierra de Espadan Natural Park with more than 200 emergency workers involved supported by the military and aircraft. Wildfires in Catalonia have destroyed 2000 hectares of forest with the authorities urging residents to stay at home. In the remote foothills of the French Pyrenees near the Spanish border, 700 firefighters were struggling to contain an out-of-control wildfire which prompted the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. The French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said on Monday: “This morning, conditions are deteriorating again,” explaining how twice as much land had burned in the country so far this season, compared to the same time last year. The “gigantic” Pyrenees fire has nearly tripled in size since Sunday, the authorities said, coming within 30 metres of homes. “Climate change is here, we are living the consequences and it is only the start of July,” the fire chief for Pyrénées-Orientales, Eric Belgioino, said. “This season is going to be a long one for the soldiers fighting fires. You have to help us.” The regional prefect, Pierre Regnault de la Mothe, ordered Tour de France spectators “not to go near the route or to the finish area” of Monday’s third stage of the cycling race through the Pyrenees from Spain into France. He said it would be “limited to the passage of the riders only and vehicles essential to the race”. International reinforcements have been sent to the Vouzela area of central Portugal, where 1,200 firefighters and 15 aircraft have been battling a massive fire that has been burning for more than three days. And residents in parts of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, to remain indoors and keep windows and doors shut due to toxic smoke from a recycling plant engulfed by the flames. The Foreign Office advice says: “Greece can experience extreme natural phenomena such as earthquakes, wildfires, extreme heat and flash floods. To be alerted to events near where you are located in Greece, make sure your mobile phone is set to allow emergency alerts.”