What has caused ‘unprecedented’ deadly wildfire in southern Spain?

Flames approach the A7 highway in Los Gallardos in Almería. Photograph: Chema Artero/Reuters View image in fullscreen Flames approach the A7 highway in Los Gallardos in Almería. Photograph: Chema Artero/Reuters Analysis What has caused ‘unprecedented’ deadly wildfire in southern Spain? Ajit Niranjan Blaze made worse by heat, strong wind and plentiful dry vegetation amid hollowing out of rural population Wildfire in southern Spain kills at least 12 amid heatwave As firefighters struggle to quell the flames ravaging southern Spain and doctors treat the injured, a horrific picture of the fallout is emerging. At least 12 people died in a fast-spreading inferno that ripped through Almería on Thursday, many trapped in cars as they sought to escape a blaze that scorched 3,800 hectares. Overwhelmed authorities say eight people have been injured and 23 cannot be accounted for. Yet the dozen deaths confirmed in Andalucía are likely to represent just a fraction of the fatalities from the fires. Far more deadly than the flames – on a scale that is hard to comprehend even for scientists who study it – is the thick black smoke they spew into the air. Lung-scarring pollution from wildfires kills a staggering 1.53 million people each year, a study found in 2024, with separate research finding a bad season in a single country, such as Canada in 2023 , can lead to tens of thousands of deaths around the world. Strong winds carry toxic particles across oceans and into homes and lungs. When record-breaking wildfires torched the Iberian peninsula last year, killing eight people in Spain and six in Portugal, they produced so much toxic smoke that 2,000 people died early, according to a study released as a preprint last month. That so many people should die is not a given. Fossil fuel pollution and mismanagement of land have laid the groundwork for increasingly fierce blazes across southern Europe, and the coming decades herald a longer fire season that burns stronger and covers a wider area. Reports suggest the blaze on Thursday may have been sparked by a fallen power line. This summer’s fires are able to spread quickly because a a hot summer turned vegetation into a dangerous fuel, preceded by a wet winter and spring that helped plants grow. “The Los Gallardos wildfire in Almería appears to have 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,” said Guillermo Rein, a fire scientist at Imperial College London. “These conditions allowed the flames to spread extremely rapidly toward homes, overwhelming the firefighters operating under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Recent heatwaves had already dried out the landscape, turning the vegetation into highly flammable fuel.” skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion ‘I had an incredible escape’: British woman tells of close encounter with Spanish wildfire Read more Western Europe is suff