As the flames advanced towards the village of Bédar, in the Almería province of Andalusia, the mayor gave a desperate order to ring the church bells to warn residents. It was not enough. The July 9 Los Gallardos fire, which claimed 13 lives and burnt 7,000 hectares, was Spain’s third deadliest on record.
Most of the victims were retired foreigners living in isolated homes, who died trapped in their vehicles or fleeing on foot along dead-end paths in a landscape dominated by scrubland and rugged terrain, most of which is difficult to access.
