Portugal Colonial - Eleven dead, 19 missing as wildfire roars through southern Spain

Authorities said many of the victims may be foreign tourists visiting Bedar, a small whitewashed village in Los Gallardos district, but that they were still confirming their identities.

They described victims trying to flee the fast-moving blaze through difficult, forested terrain, in one of Spain's deadliest wildfires in recent years.

Located about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Spain's Mediterranean coast, Bedar is popular with foreign residents and tourists seeking a quieter alternative to the nearby beach resorts.

The head of the regional government of Andalusia, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, said four of the people who died were travelling in a right-hand drive car.

"They appear to have been British nationals and were burned to death inside the car," he told Spanish radio, adding at least 19 people were still unaccounted for.

Bedar mayor Angel Francisco Collado said he urged some residents to flee their homes, "even those who did not want to leave".

However seven people died while trying to escape on foot and two others were taken to hospital, he added.

Scientists agree that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves more likely and more intense.

- Winds fan flames -

About 500 firefighters and troops battled the inferno northeast of Almeria in the southern Andalusia region which witnesses said may have been started by a power line that fell and set scrub land on fire.

It erupted as temperatures across heat-battered Spain and France were predicted to hit 40C on Friday, with forest fires blazing in both countries.

"At the moment, we have confirmed that 11 people have lost their lives in the Los Gallardos fire; there are no words for such grief," Antonio Sanz, the Andalusia region's minister for emergencies, said in a video posted on X.

"Everything indicates that the deceased are, mostly or entirely, foreign nationals," Sanz added, with authorities still confirming their identities.

He described the fire as a "very complex, very fast-moving" outbreak in a region with many ravines where it is difficult to use heavy machines and homes in forested areas.

Strong winds helped spread the blaze overnight but had calmed in the morning although forecasters predict they will pick up and change direction later in the day, Sanz said.

The Andalusia regional government said emergency services were submerged by more than 150 calls from people reporting the fire and that flames could be seen on a main highway passing near the village.

Sanz also said eight people had been injured, four seriously, and that about 3,150 hectares (7,780 acres) of forest and farmland had been scorched.

Around 800 people were evacuated, including nearly 200 who being accommodated in shelters, he added.

- 'Deeply saddened' -

Witnesses told authorities the blaze may have started after a power line fell, igniting dry vegetation before spreading rapidly through surrounding woodland, the regional government said.

Authorities have not confirmed the cause of the fire.

Roads were closed and residents evacuated as the inferno spread, with about 150 people housed in a cultural centre.

Spain's Military Emergency Unit (UME) was sent to join the firefighters.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X that he was "deeply saddened and devastated by the terrible consequences of the wildfire".

Spain is sweltering in a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings – the second highest level -- across parts of Andalusia in recent days.

Spain has experienced increasingly frequent and prolonged heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C, fuelling conditions for major wildfires.

Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares (one million acres) of land in Spain last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.

P.Cavaco--PC