A deadly wildfire in southern Spain has killed at least 12 people, with eight injured and 23 unaccounted for, as authorities struggle to contain the blaze that has scorched 3,800 hectares near Los Gallardos in Almería. The fast-spreading inferno trapped many victims in their cars as they tried to flee.
Deadly Smoke and Toxic Particles
While the confirmed deaths are tragic, scientists warn that wildfire smoke poses an even greater threat. A 2024 study found that lung-scarring pollution from wildfires kills approximately 1.53 million people annually. Research also shows that a severe fire season in a single country, like Canada in 2023, can lead to tens of thousands of excess deaths globally, as strong winds carry toxic particles across oceans.
In the Iberian peninsula, record-breaking wildfires last year killed eight people in Spain and six in Portugal, but a preprint study released last month estimated that the toxic smoke caused 2,000 premature deaths.
Conditions That Fueled the Fire
According to Guillermo Rein, a fire scientist at Imperial College London, the Los Gallardos wildfire faced "the worst possible combination: a point of ignition in a vast landscape of extremely dry vegetation, strong winds, and a nearby community that was unprepared." Reports suggest the blaze may have been sparked by a fallen power line.
The fire spread rapidly due to a hot summer that dried out vegetation, preceded by a wet winter and spring that promoted plant growth. Temperatures in the area reached nearly 42°C after several days above 35°C. Gustavo Saiz, a senior scientist at the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology, noted that "just a few weeks without rain during the summer are enough for fine fuels to reach very high levels of flammability."
Rural Depopulation and Land Abandonment
Alongside rising heat, the hollowing out of rural Spain has alarmed fire experts. Aging populations and young people leaving farms for city jobs have led to vegetation overgrowth. Political tendencies to suppress fires rather than prevent them have encouraged large fuel build-ups, making mega-fires more likely.
Juan Picos, a forest fire scientist at the University of Vigo, compared the shock at increasingly "unprecedented" wildfires to someone climbing a mountain and being surprised each day at reaching a new height. "If they continue climbing, they will almost certainly say exactly the same thing again tomorrow," he said. "The inertia of the two major processes that have brought us to the current situation – land abandonment and climate change – is enormous."
Impact and Future Outlook
Western Europe is enduring its third heatwave in two months, and this year's fires are among the deadliest in Spanish history. Data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows that the area burned is double the usual for this time of year, with triple the number of fires and above-average emissions. Last year, simultaneous fires hampered firefighting efforts, allowing small fires to explode into infernos.
The steep terrain of the Sierra de Bédar further contributes to rapid fire spread. Scientists warn that without ambitious measures to address land management and climate change, conditions will likely continue to worsen before any improvement becomes apparent.
