🔴 Latest developments (July 12)
- The fire is under control, and more than 600 evacuees have returned home. The criminal police have obtained the genetic profile of all twelve victims; confirmation of their identities is still pending. El Mundo ↗ABC ↗
- The likely cause of the fire was an abandoned electrical cable, the French newspaper Le Monde reported. Meanwhile, governments are trading political blame — the opposition-led Andalusian Junta (PP) did not activate the nationwide ES-Alert mobile warning system, which was criticized by the central government's transport minister, Puente. Minister Bolaños distanced himself from the criticism, while the Junta claims the alert would have caused "irreparable damage" to traffic. Le Monde ↗El Mundo ↗
The death toll rose after authorities found six more bodies. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that some of the victims were found in their own homes. Residents in the area were being evacuated, and authorities also reported road closures. The fire spread amid dry weather and high temperatures, conditions that regularly increase the risk of large-scale wildfires in Spain. Onet Wiadomosci ↗
Emergency services continued their response through the night and into the morning. So far, authorities have mainly reported on the number of victims, injured, and evacuees, while further details on the extent of the damage have not been specified in available reports. The tragedy in Andalusia comes at a time when several parts of southern Europe are facing heatwaves and drought. Tagesschau ↗
Local and regional authorities are expected to continue monitoring the fire site and checking the safety of the evacuated areas. Further developments will depend on weather conditions and on whether firefighters manage to prevent the fire from spreading further. BBC News ↗
