Paris (France) (AFP) - Here are the main developments related to the wildfires raging in southern Europe on Friday:

Madrid fires ‘at peak’

A wildfire raging near Madrid that has forced thousands of evacuations is “at its peak” and impossible to control, said Carlos Novillo, Madrid’s regional government emergency management chief.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will go to the zone to visit the emergency coordination centre there early Saturday, his administration said.

Spain fires merging

A massive fire near Madrid is close to merging with another blaze in neighbouring Castilla y Leon, government official Nicanor Sen Velez has said.

“It is very bad news,” he told journalist.

More evacuations in Spain

Some 40,000 people have been evacuated or ordered to remain indoors in the Madrid region as wildfires continued to spread, central government delegate Francisco Martin Aguirre said, describing the situation as “very complicated”.

Thousands flee French fire

A wildfire that has torn through a holiday region on France’s Atlantic coast has forced the evacuation of 44,000 people over two days and destroyed 53 houses and a campsite, regional authorities have said.

Hundreds fled on boats from the Cap Ferret peninsula, west of the city of Bordeaux, which was packed with tourists at the peak summer season.

Arrest over Spanish fire

Spanish police said they had arrested a man for setting off a fire in Castilla y Leon region by using farm machinery in breach of a ban in the tinderbox conditions.

Another person was under investigation for the same incident, the police said.

‘It devours you’

People in towns and villages around Madrid have been relaying their experiences of escaping the fires, some with just the clothes they were wearing.

“If you don’t run from it and you try to face it, it devours you,” Ecologio Cabrera, 86, told AFP after fleeing with nothing. “I have never experienced anything like this.”

EU planes

The European Union has said it is deploying four specialised water-bombing planes to Spain and three to France to help fight the fires there after the two countries requested assistance.

32 fires burning in France

France currently has 32 active wildfires of varying intensity, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.

“We have passed the threshold of 50,000 hectares that have burnt since January 1,” said Nunez, adding that the figure was nearly three times that of last year.

‘Dramatic’ situation

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government had deployed “all available resources” to fight the fires.

“We are living through a dramatic situation, not only in various Spanish provinces but also in regions of neighbouring countries,” he wrote on X.

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