BEDAR, Spain – Hundreds of firefighters supported by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft continued battling one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires on Saturday as emergency crews worked to contain a blaze that has killed at least 12 people and forced the evacuation of more than 1,400 residents.
The wildfire, which erupted late Thursday near the Sierra de los Filabres in Almería province, has burned about 66 square kilometers (25 square miles) of forest and farmland—an area roughly the size of Manhattan.
Authorities said improving weather conditions, including lighter winds and higher humidity, have helped firefighting efforts, although the fire remains difficult to control because of its size.
Firefighters make gradual progress
Antonio Sanz, head of Andalusia’s emergency services, said crews carried out controlled burns overnight along the fire’s perimeter to slow its advance.
Spain’s official EFE news agency reported that favorable weather conditions were expected to continue through Sunday, potentially improving containment efforts.
Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said nearly all homes along the fire’s perimeter had escaped damage despite the scale of the blaze.
Authorities have evacuated 1,448 people from 11 affected areas as firefighters continue working to prevent further destruction.
Most victims died while trying to flee
Officials said most of those killed were believed to be foreign nationals who ignored shelter-in-place orders issued as the fire spread.
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Seven victims died after abandoning their vehicles and attempting to escape on foot.
Regional authorities believe four of the victims were British because their burned vehicle had a right-hand steering wheel, consistent with vehicles registered in the United Kingdom.
Sanz said autopsies had been completed and DNA samples collected to formally identify the victims.
Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has spoken with counterparts from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands regarding the wildfire, according to EFE. Almería is home to one of Andalusia’s largest foreign resident communities.
Survivors recount dramatic escape
Jeffrey Kember and his wife, Christine, were watching television at their farmhouse in Los Pinos when emergency sirens sounded, warning residents to evacuate.
The couple fled separately while also attempting to help a neighbor caring for two toddlers.
Kember said he briefly lost contact with his wife because she did not have a mobile phone.
“I’m driving through the flames. It was actually flames. I thought, ‘I can’t stop, I just gotta go,'” he told The Associated Press after the couple reunited at an evacuation center.
“It was eerie because all of a sudden I came out of the flames and it was all bright sunshine. It was like surreal.”
Spanish authorities also arrested two people for allegedly ignoring evacuation orders and returning to a restricted high-risk area, according to EFE.
Emergency teams continued searching the Bédar area for any additional victims.
Heat fuels wildfire danger across Europe
Spain has experienced increasingly frequent and intense heat waves in recent years, with temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Bolaños attributed the wildfire’s rapid spread to what he described as a “climate emergency,” saying flames advanced at speeds of up to 100 meters (328 feet) per minute at the height of the blaze.
Spain’s national meteorological agency warned that wildfire conditions would remain at a very high level over the weekend.
Earlier this summer, Spain recorded several days of record-breaking heat that authorities linked to more than 1,000 excess deaths.
According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe is warming about twice as fast as the global average, making it the world’s fastest-warming continent.
France also battles major wildfires
France continued fighting multiple wildfires on Saturday as another heat wave gripped much of the country.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 32 people had been arrested since the beginning of the summer in connection with wildfires.
“Those unacceptable acts, which have disastrous consequences and mobilize our firefighters at the risk of their lives, now fall into the hands of the justice system,” he said.
President Emmanuel Macron noted that nine out of every 10 wildfires begin because of human activity.
More than 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) have burned across France since the start of 2026, roughly twice the area affected during the same period last year.
The country’s third heat wave of the summer prompted temporary operational changes at major tourist attractions, with the Eiffel Tower shortening opening hours and both the Louvre Museum and Musée d’Orsay reducing operating schedules because of extreme temperatures.
History of destructive wildfires
Spain remains highly vulnerable to large wildfires during prolonged periods of drought and extreme heat.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System, wildfires burned more than 393,000 hectares (971,000 acres) across Spain last year, claiming four lives.
Spain’s deadliest recorded wildfire occurred in 1979, when 21 people died in Lloret de Mar, northeast of Barcelona.
Neighboring Portugal suffered one of Europe’s worst wildfire disasters in 2017, when 66 people died near Pedrógão Grande, including 47 victims who became trapped while attempting to flee by car.
This report is based on reporting by The Associated Press.
Article Topics: Spain | Wildfires | Almería | Europe | Climate | Emergency Response | France | Natural Disasters
