Hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft struggled on Saturday to contain one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires which killed at least 12 people.
A combination of light winds and high humidity are helping crews but the sheer size of the fire still poses challenges, Antonio Sanz, head of Andalusia’s emergency services, said.
The fire has scorched some 25 square miles of forest and farmland.
Mr Sanz said fire crews carried out controlled burns overnight around the perimeter of the fire, which broke out late Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierre de Los Filabres mountains in Almeria province, just as Spain was sizzling.
Most of the victims, who are believed to be foreign nationals, died after ignoring shelter-in-place instructions, authorities said. Seven people died while on foot after abandoning their cars.
Four of the dead were believed to be British because the steering wheel of their burned-out car was on the right side, regional authorities said.
Mr Sanz said authorities had completed post-mortem examinations and DNA samples were collected to identify them.
Authorities proactively evacuated 1,448 people from some 11 areas.
Jeffrey and Christine Kember were watching TV in their Los Pinos farmhouse when the blare of a siren alerted them to the fire.
Jeffrey Kember said that at the sight of the advancing flames, both he and his wife jumped into their respective cars while also trying to help a neighbour with two toddlers.
He described how the couple became separated and he was unable to speak to his wife because she did not have a phone on her.
“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, with his wife next to him outside an evacuation centre.
“It was eerie because all of a sudden I came out of the flames and it was all bright sunshine. It was like surreal. Ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, Spanish authorities arrested two people for ignoring evacuation orders and returning to a high-risk area, according to Spain’s official EFE news agency. Authorities are still combing through the Bedar area in search of any victims.
Spain has suffered frequent and severe heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C.
Wind, high temperatures and little rainfall help small wildfires grow into unchecked blazes.
Justice minister Felix Bolanos on Saturday attributed the ferocity of the Almeira wildfire to a “climate emergency”.
He said the fire, at its most intense, advanced as fast as 100 metres per minute.
In June, Spain experienced several days of record-setting heat, with more than 1,000 excess deaths.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Parts of western Europe are facing their third heatwave in six weeks. Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing several intense heat waves across Europe.
Several wildfires remained active across France on Saturday as temperatures soared.
Interior minister Laurent Nunez said that 32 people have been arrested across the country since the beginning of the summer in connection with wildfires.
France is experiencing the peak of its third heatwave this summer, with temperatures reaching 40C across western and central areas and about 37C in Paris.
In the French capital, the Eiffel Tower will close in the afternoon over the weekend instead of late at night, as it usually does.
Last month was France’s hottest June on record, with deaths surging by nearly a third during the hottest week.
