Interior Minister Nuñez: wildfire season much more severe – situation in the Pyrénées-Orientales remains tense

Perpignan – 06.07.2026: French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez gave a serious update on the ongoing wildfire season on Monday. Since the start of the season, more than 11,000 hectares of land have already burned, compared with around 5,700 hectares at the same time last year. Conditions had worsened again in the morning, the minister said, citing strong winds, heat and dried-out vegetation that are complicating the work of emergency services.

The Pyrénées-Orientales department has been particularly hard hit, where several major fires have been raging since the weekend. The prefecture reports evacuations in the affected municipalities and extensive closures to protect residents and keep access roads clear for emergency services. The Tramontane—a dry northwesterly wind—is fanning the flames and causing fire fronts to advance rapidly. According to local authorities, several thousand hectares in the department have been affected; some fire hotspots are still not considered fully under control.

Prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe is coordinating measures on site. Public access to forest and scrubland areas has been closed, and access points have been monitored. For safety reasons, sections along the route of the Tour de France in the department have been restricted for spectators to ensure emergency corridors. Civil protection services are continuously deployed with Canadair firefighting aircraft, Dash aircraft and helicopters; they are supported by hundreds of firefighters and gendarmes brought in from different regions.

Nuñez stressed that the national firefighting strategy has been fully activated: strong prevention, rapid ground teams, air support and interregional reinforcement. At the same time, he referred to a difficult early season with early, persistent drought—a pattern that places additional strain on the already climatically vulnerable southwest. Experts have warned for years that longer heat periods, lower soil moisture and more frequent strong winds increase fire risk and shorten response windows.

Political demands are coming from the regions for additional equipment and structural staffing increases. More resources for water withdrawal points, firebreaks, forest management and closer coordination between forest management, municipalities and civil protection are being discussed. Spatial planning and land-use planning are also receiving attention, for example through minimum distances between settlements and risk areas or better-secured evacuation corridors.

In the short term, the situation remains tense: Météo-France expects persistently high temperatures and further strong winds in parts of the south. Emergency command teams are maintaining evacuations and exclusion zones until fire hotspots have been located and perimeters cleared. Authorities are calling on residents and holidaymakers to keep access roads clear, strictly avoid open fires and immediately report suspicious situations.