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France and Spain are battling catastrophic wildfires that have forced more than 350,000 people to evacuate their homes. The fires began in the southwest of France on Wednesday before spreading to Spain, where they have consumed more than 120,000 acres in what is now the most destructive fire in Spain’s recent history. Meanwhile, a new heat wave is expected to hit Europe this week, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Professor Ángel Luis Lara, who fled his home west of Madrid, says he considers his family “very lucky” because they managed to escape to safety. He says the wildfires are not just about extreme weather, but also “decades of neoliberal policies” that have diminished public services and the ability to respond to natural disasters.

We also speak with journalist John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather, who says the climate crisis has created conditions that lead to destructive “megafires” like those in Europe, North America and beyond. “These conditions have been slowly building and worsening for decades, basically vindicating, unfortunately, the warnings of climate scientists and firefighters,” says Vaillant.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: In France and Spain, devastating wildfires have forced more then 350,000 people to evacuate their homes. It’s among the largest peacetime evacuations in France since World War II. At least 4,600 emergency personnel have been deployed to the southwest of France, where the fires began Wednesday before spreading to Spain. Earlier this summer, Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record. Meanwhile, conditions are expected to worsen later this week as another heat wave could surge temperatures to 40 degrees Celsius — that’s 104 degrees Fahrenheit — or more.

Study: Europe Heat Wave “Virtually Impossible” Without Human-Made Climate Change

Speaking Sunday, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned of complicated hours ahead as Spain battles to control the blazes.

PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SÁNCHEZ: [translated] I think the scale of the disaster we are experiencing, unfortunately, once again in our country, is very difficult to comprehend. Yesterday, we reported that 130,000 hectares had been affected and burned so far this year. Today, less than 24 hours later, that figure has already risen to more than 150,000 hectares.

PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SÁNCHEZ: [translated] I think the scale of the disaster we are experiencing, unfortunately, once again in our country, is very difficult to comprehend. Yesterday, we reported that 130,000 hectares had been affected and burned so far this year. Today, less than 24 hours later, that figure has already risen to more than 150,000 hectares.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by two guests. Joining us from Spain, professor Angel Luis Lara, sociologist and associate professor of Ibero-American cultural studies at SUNY Old Westbury. He and his family have just evacuated from a municipality west of Madrid. He will join us from the province of Toledo in the Castilla-La Mancha region. And joining us from Vancouver is John Vaillant, award-winning journalist, author of several books, including, most recently, Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Let’s begin with professor Ángel Luis Lara. Can you describe the scene on the ground? I mean, in France, I think this is the biggest evacuation since World War II, the fires spreading to Spain. What it meant to be uprooted from your home, the devastation of communities as they burn to........

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