Since late June 2026, Europe has experienced a wave of large forest fires driven by a series of severe summer heatwaves, with Spain and France among the hardest-hit countries. In Spain, the Sierra Oeste fire complex west of Madrid has burned an estimated 34,000 hectares in the Community of Madrid and a further 21,000 hectares in neighbouring Ávila province — Spain’s largest wildfire season on record. In France, two major fires broke out during the same period: one in the Forest of Fontainebleau, near Paris, and another near Biscarrosse, in the Landes region, which burned roughly 3,600 hectares, destroyed 198 buildings, and forced the evacuation of around 15,000 people. Further fires were recorded in the Pyrenees and in Andalusia (Los Gallardos, the deadliest of the wave), and wildfire activity was also reported elsewhere in Europe, including Italy and Belgium, with international firefighting reinforcements deployed to support the response. This report gives a regional overview of heritage exposure across the wave, then zooms in on Spain and France — led by the Sierra Oeste fire for its scale, and the Forest and Palace of Fontainebleau, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as a priority case given the detailed damage mapping available for it.