Vatican City.- Pope Leo XIV recalled the devastating fires in France and Spain and asked for prayers for the affected people and the work of the rescue teams, in a message after the Sunday Angelus prayer held at the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo, where he is spending a few days on vacation.
“In the face of the devastating fires that have affected several towns in France and Spain these days, I express my closeness,” expressed the American pontiff.
And then he invited everyone to pray “for the people affected and for the work of the rescuers.”
More than 116,000 people remain evacuated or confined so far in Spain due to the series of fires declared in several regions. The vast majority, about 100,000, correspond to Madrid and Ávila, while another 16,000 were evicted in the province of Castellón.
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The situation remains dramatic in the center of the country, where the Government declared a national emergency in three contiguous provinces (Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo) and unified the command of operations for more agile and efficient fire management, fueled by strong and shifting winds in rugged terrain with dense forests.
In France, the wildfire situation, especially in the Gironde region (southwest), where the fire is advancing near Bordeaux and the number of evacuees has exceeded 200,000, remains “very unfavorable” this Sunday, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
