Spain wildfire death toll rises to at least 12 as rescue work continues

Spanish reporting says the death toll from the wildfire in Los Gallardos, in Almería province, has risen to at least 12 after another body was found. AP is still reporting at least 11 dead and 19 missing, and authorities have not yet issued a final casualty count.

The fire broke out in southern Spain amid extreme heat and strong winds, then spread quickly through the area. Officials say the blaze trapped people who were trying to flee and has become one of the deadliest wildfires in Andalusia’s history.

Latest casualty picture

The numbers have shifted as rescue and identification work continues. Early Spanish reporting said at least 11 people had died. AP later reported at least 11 dead, 19 missing and eight injured. Later Spanish outlets said the toll had climbed to at least 12 after a new body was found.

That leaves the scale of the final death toll unresolved. The latest reporting strengthens the case that the fire has already become one of the worst wildfire disasters in the region, but officials have not yet fixed a final figure.

Authorities say some of the victims were found inside burned vehicles near Bédar. That detail has intensified the focus on how quickly the fire advanced and how difficult the evacuation became once the flames reached the roads.

How the fire spread

The blaze moved through the area fast enough to trap residents who were trying to escape on foot or by car. Officials said some people took non-official escape routes rather than the designated evacuation path, a detail that may matter as investigators reconstruct the final minutes before the fire overran the area.

About 1,000 residents were evacuated as the emergency developed. The rapid evacuation and the uncertainty over missing people have left families waiting for confirmation while crews continue to search the affected zone.

The fire’s speed was aided by the weather conditions at the time. The combination of extreme heat and strong winds created a dangerous setting for a fast-moving wildfire, especially in terrain where evacuation routes can be limited.

Rescue and response

Emergency crews, including firefighters, Spain’s military emergency unit and helicopters, are still working on containment and recovery. Their immediate tasks are to secure the burn area, search for missing people and support identification work.

Regional officials have described the fire as among the deadliest in Andalusia’s history. The scale of the response reflects both the number of people still unaccounted for and the difficulty of working in an area where the fire moved quickly through cars, roads and open ground.

Pedro Sánchez, Juan Manuel Moreno and regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz are among the key officials linked to the response. Their involvement underscores the national and regional significance of the disaster, which has become a major emergency in southern Spain.

Cause under investigation

Investigators are examining whether a fallen power line or cable sparked the blaze. That remains only a preliminary line of inquiry and has not been confirmed as the cause.

Spanish reporting cited witnesses who saw a cable or pole fall near the N-340 before the fire began. AP also reported that authorities were looking at a fallen power line as a possible ignition source.

The exact cause matters both for accountability and for understanding how the fire spread so quickly. For now, officials are still treating the ignition source as under investigation.

What comes next

The next formal update will likely focus on the final casualty count and identification of the victims. That could still change if missing people are found or if forensic work confirms additional deaths.

Investigators will also keep working on the origin of the fire, including whether infrastructure failure played a role. Until that is resolved, the cause remains uncertain.

For evacuees, the immediate question is when it will be safe to return. For authorities, the priority remains recovery, search operations and a fuller accounting of one of Andalusia’s deadliest wildfire disasters.