Hundreds of firefighters supported by helicopters and planes are battling to contain one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires in the southern province of Almería.
The wildfire has killed at least 12 people and burned 66 square kilometers (25 square miles) of forest and farmland.
This area is roughly the size of Manhattan.
That fire, which started late Thursday near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains amid an ongoing heat wave, led to the evacuation of 1,448 people from eleven different locations.
According to reports, most of the victims, who were foreign nationals, succumbed to death due to the fact that they had not followed the “shelter in place” instructions. While seven of the people died on foot after leaving their cars, four died in a charred car, said to be British.
The head of Andalusia’s emergency services, Antonio Sanz, said: “We are facing one of the most complex fires in recent years.”
The Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, explained that the severity of the fire was due to “climate emergency”, and he pointed out that the fire was moving at 100 meters per minute during its maximum intensity. Europe is the fastest warming continent on Earth, warming twice as fast as other continents.
But in France, close to where this report originates, various forest fires are burning due to temperatures of 40°C and 32 people have been detained on suspicion of starting them. In total, more than 25,000 hectares of land in France have been affected by fire since the beginning of the year 2026.
That is double the area destroyed at the same time last year. Searches for victims are ongoing; there are 23 people missing. The Spanish police have arrested two people for not following the evacuation order.
