At least 11 die in Spain wildfire as heatwave continues in Southern Europe

At least 11 people have died and six have been injured in a wildfire in southern Spain, the Andalusian regional government has said.

A local official said early indications suggested four of the victims are British.

Some 150 firefighters are working to contain the blaze, which witnesses said was caused by a downed power line, before spreading to a wooded area aLos Gallardos, Almería. Authorities have not confirmed the cause of the fire.

A sustained heatwave with temperatures of around 40C (104F) has caused wildfires across southern Europe this summer.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling major incidents in France, Portugal and Spain, with thousands forced to leave their homes.

The bodies of the 11 victims were found in and around the small village of Bédar, just outside Los Gallardos.

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s health and emergencies minister, said the fire had been complex and rapid and the majority or even all of the victims may have been foreign nationals. The regional government had given an earlier death toll of 12, although Sanz said the number was provisional.

Four people were found trapped in their car, said Sanz, while other victims were found elsewhere, apparently trying to escape the flames. He said the four in the car were believed to be “of British origin” and that the car had a steering wheel on the right.

BBC News has contacted the UK Foreign Office.

Regional leader Juanma Moreno called the deaths “a tragedy”. Writing on X after the scale of the tragedy began to emerge overnight, he said: “Our hearts are heavy and we are devastated by grief.”

Among those injured was a person who was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation, and another who suffered burns. Four people were treated at the scene for minor burns and respiratory problems caused by the heavy smoke.

The fire also led to road closures, while 1,000 residents were evacuated, according to emergency services.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in May that Spain would deploy its largest-ever summer wildfire response this year, local media reported.

Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME), which is deployed in major emergencies, said it would join firefighting efforts in Los Gallardos.

In June, Spain reached its highest daily average since 1950, and had days where it recorded its highest ever temperatures for that month. Temperatures as high as 42C (107.6F) were forecast in some parts of the country.

Last year, a record 393,000 hectares (971,000 acres) burned in Spain, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), more than six times the Spanish average for between 2006 and 2024.

Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world, and Europe is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.

This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe’s water supply, and more intense wildfires.

Last year was the European Union’s worst wildfire season since records began in 2006, with more than a record one million hectares – equivalent to about half the land area of Wales – burning across the EU.

The worsening fire season in the Mediterranean has been linked directly to climate change in a separate study by the World Weather Attribution group at Imperial College London.

Experts warn that more frequent and severe fires across Europe are likely to continue in the future.

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