Families demand public inquiry into Spanish wildfire that killed nine Britons

Relatives of British citizens killed in a wildfire in south-eastern Spain are demanding a public investigation after Andalusian lawmakers blocked an inquiry into the disaster. Fifteen people, including nine Britons, died when flames swept through the hillside village of Bédar in Almería province on 9 July. Families say unanswered questions about warnings and evacuation have compounded their grief.

The governing People's Party and far-right Vox rejected a Socialist opposition proposal for a commission of inquiry, arguing that an ongoing criminal investigation would provide answers. Relatives say that process cannot replace a transparent examination of the emergency response. The BBC approached the Andalusian government and both parties for comment.

A central concern is the decision against sending emergency alerts to mobile phones. Andalusia's emergencies chief, Antonio Sanz, said the system could not target individual communities precisely enough. Officials argued that some residents needed to leave while others should remain indoors, and that an alert could trigger panic and congest roads. Bédar's emergency plan was last approved in 2019 and, according to regional officials, was being updated.

Duncan Chard lost his father Michael and Michael's partner Christine. He said they left their home when they saw the flames, abandoning their phones and passports, but found their escape road blocked. Michael had two artificial knees and used a walking stick. “If that evacuation warning had come through in time, my father would still be alive,” Chard told the BBC.

Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, a Belgian virologist whose father Stanislas, 63, died, also disputes officials' account of adequate warnings. He was speaking to his father by phone as the fire approached and said the victims received neither advice nor warnings of the danger. According to Verdonckt, a police car passed with its siren sounding only minutes before the flames arrived, without communicating instructions.

Danni Gillam-Kirton, an assistant headteacher from Nottinghamshire, lost her parents Pete and Fran, who had lived in Bédar since 2018. Her mother texted at about 19:00 to say they had packed in preparation for a possible evacuation. Gillam-Kirton said they were waiting for instructions that never came. They died in an area known as English Hill.

Gillam-Kirton also questions the handling of her parents' remains and possessions. Despite police assurances that their car had been thoroughly searched and no belongings had survived, she and her husband found phones, jewellery, keys, money and apparent bone fragments there in August. The family says police later reported that testing recovered no DNA and identified the bones as animal remains. Gillam-Kirton says experts, including a forensic anthropologist involved in the Grenfell Tower investigation, believe they were human. The BBC approached the Guardia Civil for comment.

The fire caused Spain's highest death toll from a single blaze during summer 2026. Its cause remains under criminal investigation. The Guardia Civil initially said a fallen power line was suspected, but that explanation has been questioned. In a September letter seen by the BBC, Sanz refused Socialist lawmakers' requests for official reports, including documents explaining the absence of mobile alerts, citing a court order keeping the case file confidential.

Gillam-Kirton fears the criminal case will examine the fire's origin without necessarily scrutinising the emergency response unless families fund lawyers to present that evidence. Relatives in Britain, Belgium and Spain have formed support groups and launched an appeal for legal action, raising about €11,000 towards a €100,000 target. They say they want accountability and lessons that could prevent another disaster.