French authorities have ordered the evacuation of the entirety of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the south-west coast, with hundreds of people escaping the area by boat.

Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated from the tourism destination west of Bordeaux, as firefighters continue to battle wildfires that have raged in the Gironde region for days.

The fires, which began on Tuesday in Saumos, continued to burn overnight with 8,700 hectares (around 21,500 acres) consumed by the flames.

Meanwhile, the government in Spain has declared a national emergency as wildfires burn out of control in several areas close to the capital Madrid.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke of a “dramatic situation” and urged people to take great care. Three fires were burning west of Madrid, at Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 40,000 people had either been or were in the process of being evacuated from the Cap Ferret peninsula, which has the Atlantic on one side and the Bay of Arcachon on the other.

“A total of 80 homes have burnt, around 50 of which have been completely destroyed,” he told reporters.

The mayor of Arès, which lies south-east of Lège-Cap Ferret on the Bay of Arcachon, said his town was being evacuated too. A local councillor said 2,000 evacuees from the peninsula had already arrived by boat in the port of Arcachon on the south side of the bay.