The area burned by wildfires already exceeds 130,000 hectares during the current European heat wave.

Omissions

• The best available figure for the period around the session date (8 July 2026) is approximately 126,328 hectares burned in the EU in early July 2026 — about 3% below the claimed 130,000, so the 'more than 130,000' threshold was only marginally (if at all) crossed on the exact session date.
• The exact cumulative EU figure for 8 July 2026 is not directly documented in the sources found; the closest point-in-time figure comes from a single secondary source citing EFFIS data.
• Data showing the later, far larger scale of the season (524,263 ha by 24 July; 554,788 ha by 12 August 2026) was published after the session date and could not have been known by the MEP.
• The first part of the original claim (heat stress threatening more than 130 million workers) was not assessed here, as the normalized claim concerns only burned area.

Sources

• PrimaryJoint Research Centre — Current wildfire situation in Europe (EFFIS)As of 12 August 2026, the area affected by fires has reached 554,788 hectares (EU-wide EFFIS burned-area tracking).
• SecondaryEcoavant (Ecologistas en Acción media)In July 2026, 126,328 hectares have burned in the European Union, 1.4 times the area burned in the same period of 2025 ('en julio de 2026 han ardido 126.328 hectáreas en la Unión Europea, 1,4 veces la superficie quemada en el mismo periodo de 2025').
• SecondaryEl PaísAcross the European Union as a whole, the burned area amounts to 524,263 hectares, 206,597 above the average ('En el conjunto de la Unión Europea, la superficie quemada asciende a 524.263 hectáreas, 206.597 por encima de la media').