France and Spain ablaze: 220,000 evacuated, historic disaster declared

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of natural disaster due to wildfires for the first time in history. In France, the Bordeaux region became the centre of the country's largest peacetime evacuation, affecting over 220,000 people. On 27 July flames came within about 15 km of Bordeaux; President Macron convened a crisis committee and announced financial aid and a long-term reconstruction programme. The final stage of the Tour de France was shortened to redeploy security services to firefighting, and 1.5 million dust masks were distributed.