British Families Demand Inquiry After Deadly Bédar Wildfire
Relatives of Britons killed in the Bédar fire in southern Spain say a blocked inquiry and a missing phone alert deserve public answers.
Families of Britons killed in this summer's wildfire in Spain say they are disgusted that regional politicians have blocked an official inquiry. They also want to know why no emergency alert reached phones in time.
The fire and the blocked inquiry
On 9 July, fire swept through the hillside village of Bédar in Almería province. Fifteen people died. Nine were British, three Belgian, one French, one American and one Spanish. It was the deadliest single fire in Spain in the summer of 2026.
The governing People's Party and the far-right Vox rejected a request in the Andalusian parliament for a commission of inquiry. The request came from the opposition Socialists. The two parties argued that a criminal investigation will provide the answers. The Andalusian government, PP and Vox were approached for comment.
The alert that did not come
Andalusia's emergencies chief, Antonio Sanz, said the region chose not to send mobile alerts, saying the system could not target individual communities. Officials also argued that an alert might cause panic and traffic jams. Families reject that. "Issue the damned alert!" said Duncan Chard, who lost his father Michael and Michael's partner Christine.
Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, a Belgian virologist whose father Stanislas, 63, died, says the victims never got advice or warnings. He says the only contact was a police car with sirens on, a couple of minutes before the flames arrived.
The village's emergency plan was last approved in 2019, and officials say it was being updated. The Andalusian government classes the municipality as at risk from wildfires.
Questions over remains and belongings
Danni Gillam-Kirton lost her parents Pete and Fran. In August she and her husband found what looked like human bones in the burned car in which her father died, along with phones, jewellery, keys and money. Police had told the family that nothing personal survived. Fragments were sent to Madrid for testing. The family says police now say no DNA was recovered and the bones were from an animal. She says experts, including a forensic anthropologist, believe they were human.
What is still unclear
The Guardia Civil said in July that a fallen power line was believed to have started the fire, but doubts have since been raised about that account. In a letter seen by the BBC, the Andalusian government turned down Socialist MPs who asked for its reports, among them any that explain why no alert went out. It said a court order keeps the case file confidential.
The families have set up support groups and a website, helpbedar.com. They want to raise €100,000 for legal action and have collected about €11,000 so far. Gillam-Kirton says she wants someone to say "we made a mistake and for that we are sorry".
Source: BBC News