Deadly Wildfire Traps Victims Who Defied Spain Evacuation
Blaze in Almería claims 11 lives as officials confirm 19 missing, warn winds threaten to worsen Europe’s fastest-warming crisis
ALMER├¡A, SPAIN — Eleven bodies have been recovered from the scorched hillsides and charred vehicles, with 19 people still missing.
The blaze broke out Thursday afternoon near the forested holiday area of Los Gallardos, on Spain’s Costa de Almería, before consuming dry valleys as hot weather hit Southern Europe. Spain has been baking under successive heatwaves, with temperatures soaring toward 40 degrees Celsius. A downed power line likely started the fire, according to a regional emergency service.
“This is the most devastating fire that we’ve ever seen in our region,” said the regional health and emergency minister Antonio Sanz.
Sanz explained that emergency crews had ordered some residents to shelter in place and others to use the established evacuation routes. “We have been faced with the terrible reality of many victims who have made the terrible mistake, we can only presume, of being caught in a trap.”Sanz said “most, if not all” of the victims appeared to be foreigners.
Four bodies were found in a car with a right-hand drive, believed to be British. Seven people died while walking, after abandoning vehicles and fleeing toward a dry riverbed, which authorities had warned against using as an evacuation path.
“They sought a different path than the planned one; they took refuge in a dry riverbed,” Sanz said, “ and the wind,” at an immense speed, carried the fire before them.”
Juan Moreno The president of the southern region of Andalusia said the number of missing was 19, but stressed that he feared the death toll would rise dramatically. “Our hearts are filled with sorrow, and we are devastated by the pain,” Moreno said in a social media post.
More than 150 firefighters and 220 soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit are tackling the blaze across an area of about 12,000 acres (3,150 hectares). The fire is still burning on two flanks, and strong winds have been pushing flames toward fields and villages. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated.
Fransico Reyes, The mayor of Los Gallardos, described the scene as flames swept toward his town on Thursday. “We have had to evacuate people from Almocizar and from Terminar de Vedas, and now we are heading towards the campsite because the wind is blowing from the west, and it will reach the campsite where we also have between 400 and 500 people, ” said Reyes.
Members of the Spanish Guard conduct an investigation during a wildfire in Almocaizer, in the vicinity of Los Gallardos, Spain , on July 10, 2026. Photo: Loyola Perez de Villegas Muniz/Reuters
The geography has hampered emergency efforts, with the small village of Bedar, where most of the victims were found, only having two road accesses, and numerous rural paths proving to be dead ends.
The disaster has highlighted Spain’s growing vulnerability to wildfire and the impact of increasing heat waves, as the continent is the fastest-warming of the Earth’s continents. In Spain, a record 393,000 acres (159,000 hectares) burned in 2022, and the fire season began earlier this year than ever, as weeks of intense heat have dried out a landscape that would previously have retained moisture well into the summer months.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered condolences over the loss of lives and said a full investigation was underway, raising concerns about whether Spain’s wildfire evacuation procedures accommodate the speed of modern wildfires and can ensure the safety of foreign tourists, who may be unfamiliar with the landscape and emergency protocols.
Search parties continue to scour ravines around Bedar and are braced for the impact of further forecasts indicating escalating winds throughout the weekend.