Portugal Colonial - Spain returns wildfire evacuees as France braces for worsening weather

The neighbouring countries have been gripped by some of the worst forest fires in living memory over the past week, burning vast areas and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Late on Tuesday, Spain lifted more than a dozen evacuation orders for municipalities west of the capital Madrid, the centre of the worst of the fires.

"24,000 evacuated individuals have been able to return to their homes, and another 20,000 have been released from confinement in the Community of Madrid," central government delegate to the region Francisco Martin Aguirre said on X late on Tuesday.

Similar measures were lifted in the Valencia region, in the east of the country.

"I'm happy -- I couldn't wait to come home and have my coffee and breakfast," said Maria Jesus Perez Blanca, a woman in her seventies who was one of about a dozen returnees at the cafes of Aldea del Fresno, west of Madrid on Wednesday morning.

Beside her, her daughter Susana Barrul, a 39-year-old housewife said she was glad to be back in her home and returning to the daily routine of "getting up in the morning, having coffee, going shopping, coming home, and cooking".

The central government's Madrid delegate's office said on Wednesday that better overnight weather conditions had helped crews reduce the intensity of the fires and stabilise their perimeter.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters on Tuesday that firefighters were containing the fires and aimed Wednesday to stabilise and extinguish all the flames if possible.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez meanwhile said Wednesday that efforts to extinguish a major wildfire near Madrid were progressing "favourably".

"I believe the next 12 hours will be very important -- they will be decisive for the work of consolidating the work that the civil protection service has done," Sanchez said.

In France, the Gironde prefecture reported a second calm night and said the massive fire in the region west of France's wine-making capital of Bordeaux was stable.

- 'Extreme temperatures' -

Nevertheless, weather conditions were set to worsen on Wednesday as the fourth heatwave of an already intense summer arrived.

"We fear today," said Jeremy Presi, a local business owner volunteering to help firefighters at a water refilling station.

"The tourists can get in their cars and get out of here. Here, it's our home," he said, as fire trucks headed past towards the flames.

The Gironde and neighbouring Landes departments are under an orange-level warning from midday, with inland temperatures of 41C forecast and 38C on the coast.

Firefighters fear that strengthening winds could fan embers and reignite the blaze.

Authorities expect westerly winds from early afternoon, with gusts of 30 to 45 km/h (19 to 28 mph) and falling humidity levels.

Wednesday "will be an important day that we will be watching very closely, given the extreme temperatures we are going to have," said Gironde fire chief Lieutenant Colonel Eric Pitault on Tuesday.

Despite those anxieties, 57,000 residents of three towns near Bordeaux, who were evacuated on Friday and Saturday, were to be allowed to return home, the department said.

- Greek fire -

Europe has been gripped by successive heatwaves and a major drought this year, which scientists have attributed to human-caused climate change.

Extreme heat has parched vegetation that had grown vigorously during wet weather earlier in the year, creating tinderbox conditions.

In Spain, 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) of land has burned nationwide, among the largest areas in any January to July period on record according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Spanish authorities have reported marginally different figures.

In France, it has put the figure at 92,000 hectares, the largest on records that date back two decades.

While the current focus is on Western Europe, the EU warned this week that fire-prone conditions would spread towards the centre of the continent in the coming days.

In Greece, firefighters were battling a blaze on the Aegean island of Paros on Wednesday, where strong winds were fanning the flames.

Two aircraft and five helicopters were deployed alongside about 100 firefighters to contain the fire, the Greek fire service said.

O.Salvador--PC