Authorities in Spain have confirmed that 12 of the 13 individuals who perished in a catastrophic wildfire in the Andalusia region were foreign nationals. Following the completion of post-mortem examinations, officials released a statement detailing the nationalities of the victims: seven were from the United Kingdom, three were from Belgium, and one each from France and the United States. The final victim was identified as a Spanish citizen.
According to the public body overseeing the identification process, the 13 deceased individuals consisted of eight women and five men, all of whom were adults. The fire began last Thursday in the province of Almeria, a southeastern region known for its picturesque rural landscape and significant population of foreign residents near the Mediterranean coast.
The blaze, categorized as one of the deadliest in Spain in recent years, was ignited by an electrical cable that fell onto a road. High winds and extreme temperatures, which have become increasingly common in Spain, fueled the flames as they swept through forests and dry scrubland, devastating approximately 7,000 hectares of land and turning rural settlements into ghost towns.
Emergency services initially recovered 12 bodies that had been so severely burned that DNA analysis was required for identification. While the wildfire caused significant destruction, it has since been brought under control, and residents were cleared to return to their homes as of Sunday. The incident follows a record-breaking year in 2025, when the European Forest Fire Information System reported that over 393,000 hectares were destroyed by fire across Spain amidst frequent, intense heatwaves.
The fire, one of Spain's deadliest in recent years and caused by an electrical cable falling on a road, devastated some 7,000 hectares (more than 17,000 acres) of land.
Spain has in recent years experienced increasingly long and frequent heatwaves, with temperatures exceeding 40C, creating perfect conditions for wildfires.
