Spain is confronting renewed wildfire fears after recent fires killed 14 people in Almeria, forced more than 1,500 evacuations and destroyed homes and forests near Madrid. Some major blazes have stabilised, but intense heat, drought and wind continue to create dangerous conditions across southern Europe.
For survivors, the danger has not ended with the flames. Residents in Bedar are campaigning for better evacuation protocols, while firefighters and analysts warn that increasingly large, fast-moving fires are making protection of lives, communities and livelihoods more difficult.
At a glance:
- The Bedar and Los Gallardos fire in Almeria killed 14 people on July 9.
- More than 1,500 people were evacuated from the Almeria fire.
- A fire complex near Madrid burned an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 hectares.
- Spain’s June fire plan brought together 13 ministries and emergency bodies.
A night of loss in Bedar
Sally Chapman was watching Wimbledon at her home in Bedar, a village of just over 1,000 people in southern Spain, when she noticed a commotion outside on July 9. The forest fire affecting Bedar and Los Gallardos killed 14 people, including five British residents known to Chapman, and sent more than 1,500 people away as evacuees.
Related coverage: Major Wildfires Spread Across Wales and England as Officials Warn of Exceptional Fire Danger.
Church bells, neighbours and a passing civil guard officer warned residents to leave. Chapman and her husband reached nearby Lubrin, where a local woman offered them a bed. Chapman returned home days later, but told Al Jazeera that survivor’s guilt remains, alongside fear that the tragedy could happen again.
Residents demand stronger safeguards
Chapman is now part of a residents’ group pressing political parties to establish protocols intended to prevent another disaster in Bedar. The village has only one local police officer, a detail that has heightened residents’ focus on how warnings and evacuations should work during a fast-moving fire.
The group’s campaign follows a night Chapman described as the worst of her life, when smoke raised fears that her home would burn. Her account also shows how informal warnings and help from neighbouring communities became critical as people fled toward safety.
More context: Fourth heatwave of 2024 expected in UK as fire chiefs warn of wildfire risks.
Fires near Madrid grew into one complex
Ferran Dalmau, a Spanish Ministry of Interior firefighting analyst and volunteer member of the Forest Fires Assessment and Advisory Team, said fires near Almorox in Toledo and Avila merged while threatening to join a third blaze near Madrid. He estimated the final burned area at between 70,000 and 80,000 hectares.
Dalmau said the fires were linked to gross carelessness involving heavy machinery, a vehicle that caught fire on a road and alleged negligence near a housing development. Using an estimate of $11,534 to fight each hectare, he said suppression could cost up to $923m, excluding damage, restoration and wider economic and environmental losses.
Heat and drought extend the danger
Some fires in central Spain have been brought under control, allowing evacuees to return, while crews continue tackling flare-ups and hotspots in provinces including Leon and Caceres. In France, officials said the country’s largest blaze since 1949 was under control but not fully extinguished after tens of thousands of hectares burned.
Also read: Mass Evacuations as Wildfires Devastate Regions in France and Spain.
Scientists describe Europe as the world’s fastest-warming continent and warn that rising temperatures, prolonged drought and strong winds are making southern Europe more flammable. The number of summer days with fire-prone conditions has more than doubled since the early 1980s, increasing pressure on emergency services and communities.
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