Gironde megafire forces overnight evacuation of La Jenny
France's flagship naturist village was emptied in darkness as a fast-moving blaze encroached and drove tens of thousands from the coast
A massive wildfire sweeping through the maritime pine forests of the Gironde department forced the complete emergency evacuation of La Jenny, one of France’s best-known naturist residential villages, during the night of July 22–23, 2026. Thousands of residents and guests were moved out under darkness and ordered not to return.
The blaze ignited in Saumos and drove southward on sea winds toward the Arcachon coast, burning more than 3,400 hectares (about 8,400 acres, roughly ten times the size of Central Park) within its first 24 hours. By July 24 it had consumed an estimated 12,500 hectares and was still spreading, prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to mobilize 1,000 military personnel alongside some 700 firefighters and aerial units.
La Jenny, formally the Domaine Résidentiel Naturiste de la Jenny on Route de la Jenny in Le Porge, was among the first properties named in the evacuation order, issued by the prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. At least eight camping areas and holiday centers in the Lège-Le Porge-Cap-Ferret corridor were cleared simultaneously. Local authorities estimated at least 12,000 people were displaced in the initial overnight operation, with more than 44,000 evacuated in total as the fire spread to engulf the Cap-Ferret peninsula itself. Roughly 2,000 of those evacuees escaped by boat when road access was cut. Emergency shelters were set up in Hourtin, Lacanau, and nearby towns, though reports noted that camp beds were in short supply for the volume of naturists arriving from Le Porge.
As of July 25, the municipality of Le Porge is maintaining a total access ban on the coastal and forest sectors, including La Jenny and adjacent camping areas. Authorities are asking the public to check official updates from the Le Porge town hall and La Jenny’s own communications before attempting to travel to the area.
What is La Jenny
The fire struck a place with deep roots in the French naturist world. La Jenny opened in July 1983 in a 120-hectare maritime pine forest 48 kilometers west of Bordeaux, conceived from the start as a freehold residential village, with buyers purchasing plots and wooden chalets on private parcels rather than booking seasonal pitches. By the mid-1980s it had 270 chalets; by the 1990s, some 400. Today it boasts over 750. In 1993 it inaugurated what remains, by its own account, the world’s only naturist golf course, a compact six-hole layout threaded through its dunes and pines. La Jenny is a founding member of the France 4 Naturisme consortium alongside Euronat, Arnaoutchot, and CHM Montalivet, the quartet of flagship Aquitaine naturist domains that have anchored French naturism on the Atlantic coast for four decades.
The forest was always the resort’s defining feature. Every advertisement for 40 years led with the same line: a pine forest of 120 hectares, an immense fine-sand naturist beach, no road to cross. The Landes de Gascogne pine forest surrounding Le Porge is the same landscape now burning.
Broader fire context
The Gironde has seen catastrophic wildfire seasons before, notably in 2022 when more than 20,000 hectares burned near Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch, but observers are calling the 2026 event historically severe. In addition to La Jenny and the surrounding camps, the upmarket Cap-Ferret peninsula was ordered fully evacuated on July 24, a measure affecting tens of thousands of summer visitors. Firefighters from the Paris region were deployed to reinforce local forces battling the fire across dense Landes forest in ongoing extreme dry conditions.
There is no current public assessment of damage to La Jenny itself. The official posture from both the municipality and the resort is clear: do not travel to Le Porge. Anyone with property or a booking at La Jenny should follow the resort’s official communications for updates on when and whether return will be permitted. 🪐
What a lovely looking area, Sad.
Unrelated question: is there a place in Japan for naturist activities?