12 dead and 23 missing as wildfire traps motorists on wrong evacuation route in Spain's Almería province

What happened

A forest fire erupted on Thursday afternoon near Los Gallardos in the province of Almería, southern Spain, and spread rapidly through dry vegetation, killing at least 12 people and leaving 23 missing as of Friday morning, according to the regional government of Andalusia. The fire broke out amid a heatwave affecting the region, with authorities issuing orange-level alerts for extreme temperatures. Emergency services received more than 150 calls from residents in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak.

We have 12 dead and 23 people who have not yet been located. I hope these 23 people who have not been located will finally be found and that they are not dead.

The death toll already exceeds the total number of wildfire fatalities recorded across all of Spain during the entire year of 2025, when eight people died in more than 8,000 fires that burned nearly 4 million hectares and forced over 42,000 residents from their homes, according to interior ministry data cited by local media.

How the victims were trapped

Most of the dead appear to be foreign nationals who ignored instructions to seek safe shelter, officials said. Andalusia's health and emergency minister Antonio Sanz stated that authorities had urged residents to stay in their homes, but the victims apparently attempted to flee by car and were burned inside their vehicles. Four of the dead, likely British nationals given their right-hand-drive vehicle, were found inside their car. Seven others were discovered after abandoning their vehicles and attempting to escape on foot along a route that was not part of the official evacuation plan.

The dead were caught off guard by a fire that evolved very quickly, with an extremely high speed of spread.

Sanz described the disaster as an unprecedented tragedy, adding that the terrain, with homes scattered across mountain slopes and numerous ravines, complicated access for emergency responders. The circumstances drew comparisons to a massive wildfire in neighbouring Portugal in June 2017, where a heatwave-driven blaze killed more than 60 people, with half of the victims incinerated inside their cars as they tried to escape.

Firefighting response

Approximately 150 firefighters with five vehicles battled the flames through the night. The Spanish military's Emergency Response Unit (UME), which specialises in major natural disasters, was activated and deployed an additional 150 personnel to support containment efforts. Medical teams and specialist forest fire units also joined the operation.

It was mainly the wind that was blowing in the afternoon that caused it to spread. The area has many ravines, which complicates access for emergency services.

Around 1,000 people were evacuated preventively from their homes. A cultural centre in the area was converted into a temporary shelter, housing approximately 50 displaced residents. Eight people were injured, four of them seriously with burns. One woman with burns and another person suffering from smoke inhalation were taken to hospital, while four others received first aid for respiratory problems and minor burns. One of the seriously injured was due to be transferred to the Virgen del Rocío hospital in Seville.

Cause and conditions

The fire is believed to have started when a power cable fell near the 511-kilometre mark of the N-340A national road, igniting dry scrubland. Pedro Ridáo, the mayor of the nearby town of Antas, told state broadcaster TVE that the cable had loosened and dropped onto a patch of dry brush. Strong winds and extreme heat then drove the flames rapidly into the surrounding forested area. Spain is currently gripped by a heatwave, with Andalusia under orange alerts, the second-highest warning level. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had stated in May that the country would deploy its largest-ever summer forest firefighting force this year.

Enormous sadness and grief over the tragic consequences of the fire affecting the province of Almería.

Sánchez extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. Juanma Moreno, the president of Andalusia, posted on X that the region was devastated by pain.

Broader context

Climate change driven by human activity has increased the likelihood of wildfires and the area burned across southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the United States, and Australia, with scientific evidence pointing to a similar increase in southern China. The combination of high temperatures, drought, and strong winds that favours wildfires is rising in many parts of the world. The fire season has lengthened as a result of the climate crisis, and this incident in Almería has already proven deadlier than the entire previous year's fire season in Spain.