From the emotional rollercoaster of the football – via a Franco-Spanish quarrel – to Elon Musk’s intervention in the French presidential race, plus a landmark new law and far too many wildfires, here’s the latest news and talking points from France.
It’s been a turbulent week for France and its neighbour to the west.
First Spain’s former prime minister Mariano Rajoy blasted Les Bleus for having “no French players” (factcheck: Bollocks, all the France team are French).
Then the current Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez blasted his predecessor’s comments, saying that he was embarrassed by him and ending with the classy pre-match message: “May the best team win, and may racism lose”.
Then the Spanish team broke French hearts by being unfortunately better at football.
So on the night, the best team did win, and Spain now go forward to the World Cup final, where they take on Argentina (the team that was filmed in 2024 singing racist songs about the French players).
So did racism lose? Well, we can only hope so because France’s football team, while they sadly did miss out on the final – and come on, being the fourth best team in the whole world is still very good – represent a very positive vision of France, in which the contribution of migrants, their children and their children’s children is celebrated rather than denigrated.
It’s not a vision of France that Marine Le Pen and her party would recognise or enjoy, but nonetheless it is a part of France which many people interact with every day and which really should be more celebrated than it is.
READ ALSO: OPINION: France should learn from the success of its wonderful multi-racial football team
Elon’s endorsement
Speaking of Le Pen, she received the endorsement of US-based South African tech boss Elon Musk this week, who described her as “France’s last hope”. The general consensus among analysts in France is that it’s unlikely to help her on the campaign trail, and could be an active hindrance, as the below cartoon hints.
Elon Musk soutient Marine Le Pen ✏️ par Coco
— Libération (@liberation.fr) July 17, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Personally, I’d love her to get an endorsement from US vice president JD Vance, as that proved to be the kiss of death for Hungary’s former leader Victor Orban earlier this year.
Blame it on the weatherman
The weather has also been doing its bit to add to the turbulence – the third heatwave of the summer so far drew to a close with huge storms, including in some areas ‘Des grêlons de la taille d’une balle de tennis’ (hailstones the size of tennis balls).
“Des grêlons de la taille d’une balle de tennis”: les images impressionnantes des chutes de grêle qui ont balayé la France https://t.co/1FRgeOS3Wo
— BFM (@BFMTV) July 16, 2026
Meanwhile, wildfires continue to rage, including in the historic and beautiful Forest of Fontainebleau, just south of Paris, and the government declared a “very worrying” drought.
READ ALSO: MAP: Where are water restrictions in place in France?✎
French merch
The best €10 I have spent since coming to France is this elegant, practical and profane hand fan, which very much sums up my feelings about the recent heatwaves.
I hear the company also does an umbrella that says ‘merde, il pleut‘ which I might need to invest in this winter. But if you like left-wing economic commentary while saving up small change, this has to be the winner.
CQFD.
— David Dufresne (@davduf.net) 15 July 2026 at 11:19
Right to die
Football and complaining about the weather have, I must admit, taken up most of the week for me, but the French parliament is still at work, this week finally passing a landmark piece of legislation on assisted dying.
This law has been passing through the parliamentary process for more than two years now, with strong support in the Assemblée nationale and strong opposition in the Senate (plus some pauses as French governments rose and fell).
The topic is a complicated, controversial and very emotional one, but what’s interesting about this piece of legislation is that it emerged from a citizens’ council.
France has made good, albeit sporadic, use of these councils – gatherings of a representative sample of ordinary people to discuss and make recommendations on topics which are of vital importance, but which risk getting bogged down in partisan party politics.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What are France’s ‘citizen councils’?
Talking France
The Talking France podcast is proving just how integrated it is into French life by taking an extended holiday over the summer. Our final episode of the season looks ahead to summer 2026 and what we can expect in la rentrée. Listen here
Inside France is editor Emma Pearson’s weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.