French authorities ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourism hotspot, due to a large wildfire.
Some 40,000 people were evacuated from the area, many brought to safety by boat, officials said.
In Spain, more than 10,000 people were evacuated from towns in the mountains west of the capital, Madrid, as three fires in the region and neighbouring Avila province prompted the government to declare a national emergency on Friday, which allows it to take charge of coordinating the response.
It was the first time such a measure has been taken due to a wildfire.
The last time Spain declared the same level of emergency alert was during a massive nationwide power blackout in 2025.
In Navaluenga in Avila province, residents wearing masks because of the smoke stood watching firefighting helicopters scoop up water from the town's river late on Thursday.
"I've lived here for 36 years and I've never seen anything like it. Nor did I expect it. I thought they were going to get it under control last night, but it was already late, and it was all out of control," resident Javier Martin told Reuters.
More than 270 emergency personnel and 40 ground units have been deployed in the affected areas, alongside several Military Emergency Unit (UME) contingents, Spanish officials said.
More than 350 fires have burned in Spain so far in 2026, according to the EU's European Forest Fire Information Service.
In 2025, a record surface area was destroyed.
The French order for a total evacuation of the Cap Ferret area, which is home to many valuable properties and is currently full of tourists enjoying their summer holidays in camp sites and rental homes, underlined the severity of the fire.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had asked for firefighting support from the EU to help tackle the Cap Ferret blaze, which has already devastated 8700 hectares.
"France has requested the activation of the European Union's civil protection mechanism," Macron wrote on X on Friday, adding that several specialist aircraft from other European countries should soon be on their way to help.
Wildfires have burnt more land in Europe already in 2026 than the annual average in the past two decades, data shows, as the world's fastest-warming continent has endured three stifling, virtually back-to-back heatwaves.
