FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris, July 11, 2026. The death toll from the fire that ravaged the province of Almeria continues to rise by the hour: at least twelve confirmed dead, eight injured including four seriously burned, and up to twenty-three people still missing as of Friday evening, according to the regional Andalusian authorities. The French press, widely mobilized on this tragedy, immediately emphasizes its historic scope: this toll already exceeds that of all the fires that occurred in Spain throughout 2025 — eight deaths for 393,000 hectares burned, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).

Accounts reconstruct the chronology of the disaster. The fire allegedly started on Thursday afternoon in a ditch, after a power cable ruptured along a national road near Los Gallardos, before spreading "like wildfire," according to the words of regional president Juan Manuel Moreno, quoted by Le Monde. Fueled by the wind — Almeria being one of the windiest regions in Spain — the flames covered fifteen kilometers in two hours, trapping scattered residents on steep hills, some of whom were caught in their vehicles, while others were overtaken while trying to flee on foot.

The priest of the parish of Bédar, where the victims were found, described to radio Cope a area populated by "foreigners," elderly and isolated, "who think they know the paths." The authorities confirm that the victims are likely to be mostly foreign nationals, although this cannot be confirmed until after the autopsies. One hundred and fifty firefighters, five tanker trucks, and the Military Emergency Unit have been mobilized; Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his "immense sadness" and called for "great caution."

French newsrooms systematically link this tragedy to the heatwave that is simultaneously affecting France, where a heatwave emergency plan, Orsec, was triggered on the same day. Spain is described as "on the front line of climate change," facing increasingly long and early heatwaves that are conducive to fires that become more devastating year after year.