British couple return to village at heart of deadly Spanish wildfire
A British couple have returned to their home in the small Almerian village of Bedar after fleeing a wildfire that has killed at least 13 people across Spain’s Almeria province, with five of the dead believed to be British nationals.
Racing back through the smoke
John and Patricia Hollis, both retired and in their late 60s, left their farmhouse on the outskirts of Bedar on Thursday morning as the fire swept through the surrounding hillside with terrifying speed. They drove north for several hours, stopping only when the air became breathable again. By Saturday, they were back.
“We didn’t know what we’d find,” Patricia said, standing in her driveway surrounded by scorched olive trees. “The neighbours two roads down weren’t so lucky.” She didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t need to.
The fire, which broke out during an extreme heat event when temperatures in the region hit 43 degrees Celsius, tore through approximately 2,400 hectares of dry scrubland and farmland before firefighters brought it under partial control late Friday. Around 800 residents were evacuated at the height of the blaze.
The human toll
Thirteen people are confirmed dead. Spanish authorities say at least five of the victims are believed to be British citizens, though formal identification is still ongoing. Several of the bodies were found inside vehicles on rural tracks, suggesting some residents tried to outrun the flames and couldn’t.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is in contact with local Spanish authorities and is supporting the families of those affected.
It’s a devastating number for a relatively contained area. Bedar itself has fewer than 700 registered residents, many of them northern European expats who bought property here during the boom years of the early 2000s.
A community left shaken
Still, life is cautiously resuming. The main road into Bedar reopened Saturday afternoon after crews cleared debris and assessed structural safety. A handful of residents were seen sweeping ash from doorsteps. One bar in the village square was open, its owner handing out free coffee to anyone who walked in.
A spokesperson for the Almeria provincial government said recovery operations are ongoing and that a full damage assessment won’t be completed for several days. “Our priority right now is the families of those who have lost their lives,” the spokesperson said.
The Hollis farmhouse survived. But the landscape around it is barely recognisable — black and skeletal where there was green and dense brush just 48 hours ago.
What comes next
Spanish climate scientists have been warning for years that Almeria’s prolonged droughts and rising summer temperatures are creating near-perfect wildfire conditions. This week’s disaster is the deadliest in the region in recent memory.
Investigators will now begin examining what started the fire and whether any emergency warnings could have been issued sooner. For the British families waiting on identification of victims, those answers can’t come quickly enough.
