The latest wildfires in southern Europe this week have displaced more than 250,000 people, including some 70,000 people who were evacuated in central Spain. The magnitude of the wildfires caught authorities off guardThe French military A400M transport plane, specially converted for fire-fighting, was a heavyweight new tool in the battle. It joined at least 18 other water- and retardant-dropping aircraft and helicopters that Nunez said were deployed in the Gironde region, working in rotation in the smoke-filled skies. France deployed 1,400 firefighters to the Gironde fire and hundreds of others to another wildfire further south in the Landes region. Associated Press journalists Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal; Manu Fernandez in El Tiemblo, Spain; and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed.