King and Queen of Spain meet fire victims

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain have met with victims of the fire ravaging parts of Spain and France.

The King and Queen met those displaced by the fires at the municipal sports centre “La Chopera” in Madrid. The President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; the Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen; the Chief General of the UME, Francisco Javier Marcos; and the Mayor of Villamanta, Mariano Núñez joined them.

Their Majesties spoke to evacuated residents and showed them support, while also thanking the many volunteers who are helping them.

The sports centre was set up to accommodate roughly 200 people who have been evacuated due to the large blaze west of the capital.

© Casa de SM el Rey

Once King Felipe and Queen Letizia left the evacuation centre, the King told the press that he and the Queen wanted to “show our affection and support, understanding and solidarity to all those displaced, to all those evacuated. They have had a very difficult time. Some have already been away from their homes for four days.”

He went on to stress the importance of helping each other. His Majesty remarked that it is important to provide “assurance that all possible means, both human and material, are being employed to alleviate this situation and combat the main enemy, which is the fires. The primary objective, as you know, is to preserve human life and guarantee safety.”

Queen Letizia added, “It is important and makes sense to listen carefully to the residents, to hear how they feel and how they recount their experience of being abruptly forced to leave their homes, how they felt, the sadness they describe, the anguish, the uncertainty, and those questions that linger in the air.”

Over 300,000 people have been evacuated from both France and Spain due to large fires outside Madrid and communities around Bordeaux, France. Exhausted firefighters continue to battle the infernos with no rain in the forecast and temperatures expected to increase this week.