France’s destructive wildfire continues to devastate the country, causing ‘hellish’ destruction, while tourists in Spain are being evacuated as the nation reports one of its highest monthly heat death counts.

The swiftly expanding wildfire, currently engulfing an area larger than Paris in southern France, began on Tuesday and has already consumed around 16,000 hectares. It remains ‘very active’ as of Wednesday, according to authorities.

One woman lost her life in her home, and at least 13 others, including 11 firefighters, sustained injuries. At least three individuals are missing as around 2,100 firefighters and multiple water bomber aircraft combat the blaze in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region, a rural, forested area noted for its vineyards.

‘It’s a scene of sadness and desolation,’ said Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquières, where all residents have been evacuated.

‘It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burned down.’

It is believed to be the nation’s worst wildfire since 1949. 

Simultaneously, 1,500 people, including tourists and locals, have been evacuated in Spain due to a severe forest fire causing chaos near a beach resort in Tarifa, a location often referred to as a ‘surfer’s paradise’ for its extensive beaches and high waves.

Regional authorities in Spain said late on Wednesday that a wildfire raging near Tarifa that prompted evacuations had been ‘stabilised’. 

The fire in France, the largest the country has encountered this summer among 9,000 fires, has damaged 25 homes in the Aude department, where 1,500 firefighters are striving to put out the blaze.

A 65-year-old woman died in her home while nine others were injured, including seven firefighters were hurt as they fought the flames.

‘The resident absolutely wanted to stay in her house and unfortunately the fire quickly arrived and engulfed her house,’ said the mayor of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Xavier de Volontat, about the victim.

‘People are losing everything,’ said Aude Damesin, who lives in the town of Fabrezan. ‘I find it tragic to see so many fires since the beginning of the summer.’

‘The fire is still spreading and is far from being contained or under control,’ said Remi Recio, an official in the southern city of Narbonne.

The Aude department in particular has seen an increase in areas burnt in recent years, aggravated by low rainfall and the removal of vineyards, which used to help brake the advance of fires. 

‘The fire is advancing in an area where all the conditions are ripe for it to progress. We are monitoring the edges and the back of the fire to prevent flare-ups,’ said Lucie Roesch, secretary general of the Aude prefecture.

Planes have been dropping water on the flames but Roesch warned ‘this fire will keep us busy for several days. It’s a long-term operation’.

In Spain, hundreds of people were said to have bunkered down in a shelter in Algeciras after being evacuated from hotels and homes near the fire in Tarifa, as beach bars and campsites were abandoned in the chaos.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish the fire on Wednesday, having battled through the night to control the blaze that required a team of up to 17 aircraft. 

The flames began spreading in the hills of Torre de la Peña, behind the hugely popular resort of Tarifa. 

According to the Andalucia firefighter service INFOCA, there are gusts of 20-25km/hr that are favouring the fire’s spread.

The fire was snaking very close to the N-340 highway and the Estrecho Natural Park – the former of which has been partially closed between Las Piñas and Pedro Valiente. 

Tarifa Mayor Antonio Santos has described the situation as unprecedented. ‘This is the fastest-spreading fire I’ve ever seen,’ he said on national channel La Sexta. 

Hundreds of the people evacuated from hotels and homes by the fire were said to have spent the night in a hostel in Algeciras, while droves found shelter in a La Marina sports centre in Tarifa as 5,000 fled the area in cars.

Fire stations from elsewhere in the province including Chiclana, Benalup and Los Barrios sent troops to assist the effort against the blaze in Tarifa, as attempts are being concentrated on controlling the fire on the north and east flanks.

The heatwave is expected to last until next Sunday, according to Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).

All bars, restaurants or hotels have been evacuated between La Peña and Casas de Porros, reports local newspaper Europa Sur, including beach bars and ‘chiringuitos’ due to the large amounts of ash being carried down to the shore.

According to the local police, the fire started in a motorhome at the Torre la Peña campsite, which also had to be evacuated.

The flames then blew westward, away from the campsite, and spread rapidly through a hilly and grassland area where homes and tourist establishments are scattered – including the Wawa Hotel, which is reported to have been affected by the fire.

Some 17 aircraft have been roped in to tackle the inferno, which took hold in Cadiz in Andalusia on Tuesday afternoon. The current firefighting operation involves five helicopters, two water-carrying planes and a coordination plane, five forest fire ground crews and more.

In the wake of the French fire, French President Emmanuel Macron called on people to exercise the ‘utmost caution’, saying on X: ‘All of the Nation’s resources are mobilised.’ 

Camping grounds and one village were partially evacuated, and several local roads have been closed.

The fires there spread through a stretch of land roughly equivalent to the size of the French capital between Carcassonne and Narbonne.

Four Canadairs, two Dashes and a water bomber helicopter resumed service around 7 am on Wednesday morning to fight the flames, as 100 police officers supported the effort. 

It comes as the country sees one of its worst months for heat-related deaths, with 1,060 people having died due to high temperatures in July, a 57 per cent increase from figures last year. 

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. 

Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.

The two blazes come just days after fires erupted in Portugal, Greece, and Spain, while tornadoes struck tourist hotspots in parts of Spain and Switzerland.

Thousands of firefighters battled a dozen wildfires raging in northern Portugal and central Spain into Wednesday, in the largest wave of blazes in the Iberian Peninsula so far this year following weeks of summer heat.

The largest wildfire burned in the wooded, mountainous Arouca area – 185 miles north of Lisbon – since Monday, leading to the closure of the scenic trails of Passadicos do Paiva, a popular tourist attraction.

Some 800 firefighters and seven waterbombing aircraft tackled the blaze.

‘There was a huge effort during the night, so now we have a somewhat calmer situation,’ Civil Protection Commander Helder Silva told reporters, cautioning that shifting strong winds and a difficult terrain meant their work was far from over. 

‘It’s a very large wildfire in areas with difficult access,’ he said.

Further north, a blaze raged from Saturday in the Peneda-Geres national park near the Spanish border, enveloping nearby villages in thick smoke that led to orders for residents to stay at home.

Portuguese firefighters managed to control two large fires that started on Monday in the central areas of Penamacor and Nisa.

Authorities said the Penamacor blaze had destroyed 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forest. 

British tourists were put on alert as Greece wildfires spread amid a 44C heatwave in late July, causing homes to go up in flames in the coastal towns of Palaia Fokaia and Thymari 25 miles southeast of Athens.

Some 145 firefighters, 44 fire engines, ten firefighting planes and seven helicopters were deployed on site as residents of the town of Kryoneri, 12.5miles northeast of Athens, received three SMS warnings to evacuate on July 26.