12 Dead in Southeastern Spain Wildfire

Madrid. At least 12 people have died in a massive wildfire in the Los Gallardos region of Almeria province in southeastern Spain. It is reported that 6 more people have been injured in these incidents. The Andalusian regional government confirmed the number of dead and injured on Friday. 

According to officials, some of the deceased were found inside vehicles that were destroyed by fire. Eyewitnesses said that the fire started after a power transmission line fell and then spread rapidly to a nearby forest. Officials have not officially confirmed the exact cause of the fire.

The head of the Andalusian regional government, Juanma Moreno, called the incident a 'sad tragedy' and expressed condolences to the deceased. About 150 firefighters have been deployed to control the fire in the settlement called Bedar. One of the injured has been admitted to the hospital due to respiratory problems caused by smoke, while another person is said to have been burned by the fire. The other four were treated on the spot for minor burns and respiratory problems caused by smoke.

Some roads have been closed due to the wildfire. According to emergency services, about one thousand local residents have been evacuated to a safe place. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had previously announced that the largest emergency mechanism in the country's history would be deployed to combat wildfires during the summer this year. Spain's military emergency unit, which is deployed for major emergencies, has also participated in the rescue and firefighting campaign.

With temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in Southern Europe due to a prolonged heatwave, hundreds of firefighters are engaged in controlling wildfires in Spain, France, and Portugal. Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. In Spain, the average daily temperature in June was the highest since 1950. Temperatures are forecast to reach up to 42 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, about 393,000 hectares of forest area were destroyed by wildfires in Spain last year, which is more than six times the average from 2006 to 2024. According to Copernicus Climate Service, temperatures are rising globally due to climate change, and Europe has become the continent with the fastest-warming temperature in the world. This is causing a significant increase in intense heatwaves, water scarcity, and massive wildfire incidents during the summer.

The 2025 wildfire season in the European Union was the most devastating since 2006. At that time, more than one million hectares of forest area were affected by wildfires across the region. The World Weather Attribution group, affiliated with Imperial College London, has also directly linked the increasing risk of wildfires in the Mediterranean region to climate change.