On Friday, beachgoers in Moutchic, southwestern France, watched smoke rise from a nearby wildfire. Wildfires in France and Spain have blazed toward urban areas, triggered evacuations by land and sea, and filled the southern European sky with smoke.

Amid intense summer heat, around 200,000 people in France and Spain have fled their homes or been advised to stay indoors as dozens of fires spread. A French official described two major fires as “ogres of the summer.” In Spain, a blaze has been termed “the worst wildfire in the Madrid region’s history.”

The Spanish government has declared the fires in the Madrid region a national emergency. Both France and Spain have sought additional assistance from the European Union to combat the fires and support affected residents.

Firefighters were seen battling flames on Friday in a forest in Lège-Cap-Ferret, southwestern France. A French Civil Security aircraft was captured flying near flames in a southeastern France forest surrounding Cotignac.

In Spain, martial arts students assisted in extinguishing a fire outside their teacher’s home in the village of El Tiemblo. Evacuated individuals from Lège-Cap-Ferret found refuge in Arcachon, after leaving the Cap Ferret peninsula.

Evacuees took shelter from the fires in places like Cebreros, Spain, west of Madrid. Traffic jams were reported in the areas threatened by fire. Cap Ferret, a popular vacation spot, features a single main road, making evacuations challenging. Smoke darkened skies near Andernos-les-Bains.

Juana Gonzalez, from El Tiemblo, protected herself from smoke on Friday. Firefighters in Spain executed controlled burns in Navas del Rey to impede the wildfires’ progression. In France, a firefighter worked close to a burning building in Lège-Cap-Ferret on Thursday.

Some Spanish evacuees sought refuge in a Madrid sports center. Meanwhile, a forest near the Arcachon Bay burned on Friday.