Brits in Spain Describe Deadly Wildfire: 'There's Nothing As Far As the Eye Can See'

Jul 13, 2026 | Officials in southern Spain say a wildfire in Andalucía, which has killed at least 12 people, has now been "stabilised". More than 20 people are still missing.

Sky's Alistair Bunkall spoke to residents returning to their homes.

Journey Through Andalusian Sounds 🎵 | Relaxing Flamenco Guitar & Arabic Oud Music | الأندلس

Jun 7, 2026 | Embark on a Journey Through Andalusian Sounds, where the passionate elegance of Spanish flamenco guitar meets the soulful beauty of the Arabic oud.

Inspired by the rich cultural heritage of Al-Andalus, this relaxing instrumental experience blends Mediterranean warmth with timeless Arabic melodies to create a peaceful atmosphere for mind, body, and soul.

Allow the gentle rhythms of flamenco guitar and the expressive tones of the oud to guide you through a world of serenity, focus, and inspiration. Whether you're studying, reading, working, meditating, or simply unwinding after a long day, these soothing Andalusian harmonies provide the perfect soundtrack for relaxation and reflection.

From the historic palaces and gardens of Andalusia to the musical traditions that connected East and West, this collection celebrates the enduring beauty of Andalusian music through calming instrumental arrangements designed to bring balance and tranquility to your day.

Why Fleeing a Wildfire Can Be Deadly | DW News

Jul 12, 2026 | In Spain, a fast-moving wildfire killed at least 12 people — several of them apparently while trying to escape.

Authorities say some victims left their cars or ignored shelter instructions as flames raced through southern Andalusia.

So, when a wildfire closes in, what is safer: run, drive, or stay put?

DW speaks to Dr. Anabela Bonada, Managing Director, Climate Science at Intact Centre

Wildfires in Andalucía

MARK ALEXANDER: Naturally, I am very distressed by ALL the wildfires in Europe at this time. But in the last couple of days, I have been particularly concerned about, and distressed by, the wildfires in southern Spain, in Andalucía, in and around Granada and Almería. I get several very loyal visitors from this area of Spain, and I have done for a very long time, so I am particularly concerned about their welfare at this extremely dangerous time.

I don’t know these people—I wish I did—, but to care about them and their welfare, I don’t have to.

I keep looking on the map to see if they have visited me, and when I see that they have at this extremely dangerous time for them, I am greatly relieved. Then, I know that at least they are still alive!

Mark Alexander

Tourists among Several Killed in 'Terrifying' Wildfire in Southern Spain | ABC NEWS

July 11, 2026 | At least 12 people have been killed in Spain's south-east with several more missing after a fast-spreading wildfire near Los Gallardos.

Authorities believe most of the victims were tourists and that many died after ignoring shelter-in-place instructions.

Hundreds of firefighters worked to bring the flames fanned by strong winds under control.

Spain Battles to Contain One of Its Deadliest Wildfires as At Least 12 Killed | BBC News

July 11, 2026 | Hundreds of firefighters in Spain are still battling to contain pockets of flames in the south east after one of the country's worst-ever wildfires.

Emergency services have been deployed around the village of Bédar where 12 people have been killed - among them four Britons, according to Spanish authorities. Another 23 people are still missing.

Local officials in the Los Gallardos area of Almería have warned the number of dead could rise, with fears that more Britons are among those killed.

A sustained heatwave with temperatures of around 40C (104F) has caused wildfires across Southern Europe this summer, particularly in France, Portugal and Spain.

‘I Had an Incredible Escape’: British Woman Tells of Close Encounter with Spanish Wildfire

THE GUARDIAN: Jeanne Henny, 74, put her friend, a wheelchair and two dogs into the car and drove away, only to meet fire surging on to the road

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Jeanne Henny: ‘You thought the fire was miles away and then suddenly it was in front of you on the road.’ Photograph: Handout
The speed, scale and ferocity of the wildfire in and around the Bédar municipality of Almería took everyone by surprise.

Jeanne Henny, an English woman who has had a house in the tiny hamlet of Los Pinos for 33 years, initially took Thursday afternoon’s yellow skies as proof that a calima wind from the Sahara was showering desert dust on the area. Then she noticed the smoke and saw from a fire-alert app that a blaze had broken out.

“There was a lot of smoke, but it was far away,” said Henny, 74. “We get fires and there’s some kind of scare most years. The police will come to each house and tell us to get out and there will be sirens going. But this time it didn’t happen like that.”

The gravity of the situation became apparent when a neighbour knocked on her door at 5.30pm and told her it was time that she and her friend, who uses a wheelchair, abandoned their house.

It took Henny almost half an hour to get her friend and two dogs into the car. She had to leave her five cats behind. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Friday, July 10, 2026

Andalucíans Vote in Election Seen as Gauge of Spain’s Wider Political Change

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, the People’s party candidate and the region’s incumbent president, at a rally in Málaga this week. Photograph: Jesús Mérida/Sopa Images/Shutterstock
THE GUARDIAN: Conservatives expected to keep majority as socialists face drubbing and ballot tests trajectory of far-right Vox party

Voters in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía are casting their ballots in an election that is likely to deliver an absolute majority to the conservative People’s party (PP) and inflict another debilitating defeat on Pedro Sánchez’s embattled socialists in what was previously one of their proudest strongholds.

Sunday’s election in Spain’s most populous region – the last big poll before next year’s general election – will serve as a barometer of wider electoral opinion and could also reveal whether the popularity of the far-right Vox party is beginning to peak.

The PP, which has governed the former socialist bastion for the past seven years, is seeking to frame the election as a referendum on Sánchez, the country’s prime minister, whose inner circle, party and administration are facing an array of corruption allegations.

According to the polls, the incumbent PP regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, is on course to almost replicate his result at the last election in 2022, when the conservatives won 58 of the seats in the 109-seat regional parliament. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Sunday, May 17, 2026

Google AI informs me that the Vox Party wants Spain to strip homosexuals of their hard-fought-for, hard-won rights. They want Spain’s laws on homosexuality to mirror those in darkest Africa! As we all know, most of Africa’s laws on homosexuality are dark and benighted!

I know little about the Vox Party, but I know that the Party’s take on LGBTQ+ rights are troubling indeed. Fie on the lot of them! — © Mark Alexander

Noches en Andalucía (Spanish Guitar) – Govi | Reupload

Sep 9, 2012 | Spanish Guitar Tune - Andalusian Nights - Govi Album: New Flamenco

Jamie Does... Andalusia | Full Episode | Jamie Oliver

Feb 22, 2024 | A throwback to Jamie's time in sunny Andalusia, a lively Spanish community full of incredible flavours and warm personalities.

Join Jamie as he samples tapas plates, cooks a GIGANTIC paella for the locals, learns from some world champion serrano ham cutters, and much more! | The series 'Jamie Does'... originally aired on Channel 4.

Noches en Andalucía | Spanish Guitar — Govi | Reupload

Sep 9, 2012 | Spanish Guitar Tune - Andalusian Nights – Govi Album: New Flamenco

Noches en Andalucía | Spanish Guitar — Govi | Reupload

Sep 9, 2012 | Spanish Guitar Tune - Andalusian Night's Govi Album: New Flamenco

This fabulous, exciting sound is far too beautiful to forget about! It is well worthy of a reupload. Enjoy it anew! – © Mark Alexander

Noches en Andalucía | Spanish Guitar — Govi

Sep 9, 2012 | Spanish Guitar Tune - Andalusian Night's Govi Album: New Flamenco

Brandon Li: The Passion of Andalucía

Oct 9, 2019 | The passion of flamenco echoes through Andalucía.

Spain Wildfire: Almost 1,000 Emergency Workers Fighting Blaze

THE GUARDIAN: Fire in Andalucía region rages for sixth day having already forced evacuation of thousands of people

Firefighters tackle wildfire near the town of Jubrique in southern Spain. Photograph: Pedro Armestre/AP
Almost 1,000 firefighters and emergency workers are battling one of the most intractable Spanish wildfires in recent years as the blaze rages for a sixth day, after devouring at least 7,400 hectares (18,285 acres) of land in the southern region of Andalucía and forcing the evacuation of more than 2,600 people.

On Sunday, 260 members of Spain’s military emergencies unit were deployed to help tackle the fire, which began last Wednesday in the mountainous Sierra Bermeja above the resort town of Estepona, and which now has a perimeter of 53 miles (85km). Experts hope the rain forecast across much of the country on Monday will help extinguish the blaze.

Investigators say they have evidence that the fire, which claimed the life of a 44-year-old firefighter last Thursday, was started deliberately. Announcing the deployment of the military personnel on Sunday night, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the government and its partners “will work together and tirelessly in the face of the fire that is devastating the province of Málaga”. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Monday, September 13, 2021

Lessons from the Golden Era of Andalusia [ الاندلس ] | Al Jazeera World

Saadane Benbabaali is an Algerian academic whose ancestors came from what is now the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. He has retired from teaching literature and Arabic at Paris University III. But for 15 years, Benbabaali has led groups of students on annual trips to Andalusia to share his passion and knowledge about the region and its rich history.

He believes that the period of Arab Muslim rule over the Iberian Peninsula was arguably the only time in European history when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived relatively peacefully together, producing a common culture and harmonious society.

He also thinks that the period and place have powerful lessons for what he sees as today's fractured world. … [Cont’d: https://youtu.be/GGotnIfQaQg ]

If Spain Welcomes Back Its Jews, Will Its Muslims Be Next?

The Alhambra in Granada, Andalusia, was built by Moors
beginning around AD 889, who officially stayed in Spain
for several centuries.

THE GUARDIAN: A proposed law will fast-track naturalisation of Jews whose ancestors were expelled 500 years ago. Now the descendants of Muslims who were ousted are also seeking the right to return

Perched dramatically on a rocky mountain, the small city of Toledo overlooks a bend in the Tagus river. Within its maze of cobblestone streets are buildings that once housed mosques, churches and synagogues, hinting at the varied cultures that once called this medieval city home.

Earlier this month, about 50 miles away from Toledo, the Spanish government sought to strengthen its ties with one of these cultures, announcing plans to fast-track the naturalisation of Sephardic Jews, whose ancestors were expelled five centuries ago from Spain.

The bill, said the Spanish government, would "correct a historical wrong". The legislation has yet to be approved by parliament, but already consulates in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem said they have been flooded with requests for information. Up to 3.5 million people around the world are thought to have Sephardic – Hebrew for "Spanish" – Jewish ancestry.

Now the descendants of another group who figured prominently in Spain's colourful past – before also being expelled – say it's only fair that the same right of return be extended to them.

Shortly after banishing the country's Jewish population, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand turned their attention to Spain's Muslims, forcing them to covert to Christianity or face expulsion. The Muslims who converted, known as Moriscos, often did so in name only, holding on tightly to their customs and traditions.

In the early 1600s – nearly 120 years after Jews in Spain were told to leave – the Moriscos were also expelled. An estimated 275,000 people were forcibly resettled, the majority of them heading to Morocco, some to Algeria and Tunisia.

A group representing Moriscos in Morocco recently sent a letter to Spain's King Juan Carlos asking the country to make the same conciliatory gesture to the descendants of Muslims. Speaking from Rabat, the president of L'Association pour la Mémoire des Andalous strongly criticised Spain's double standard in offering to naturalise the descendants of Jews ousted from Spain but not Muslims. The Spanish government "should grant the same rights to all those who were expelled", Najib Loubaris told news agency EFE. "Otherwise the decision is selective, not to mention racist." » | Ashifa Kassam in Madrid | Monday, February 24, 2014

Tunisian Salafist Kamel Zarouq Talks about Future Conquest of Andalusia, Rome, and Jerusalem | The Internet - April 30, 2013

Egyptians Protest the Fall of Islamic Andalusia and Vow to Liberate It (January 2, 2013)

"Die Religiösen führen ein bigottes Doppelleben"

DIE PRESSE: Frauenrechte sind in Saudiarabien noch am absoluten Nullpunkt. Seit dem Ausbruch der Arabellion vor einem Jahr versuchen allerdings auch die Frauen, sich in mikroskopischen Schritten mehr Freiheiten zu erkämpfen.

Flamenco wird von Männern und Frauen getanzt, Frauen jedoch tanzen ihn häufiger“, tönt aus dem Dunkeln tapfer eine Lautsprecherstimme auf Arabisch und Englisch. Das Auditorium tuschelt leise und erwartungsfroh. Immerhin, das puritanisch-wahhabitische Königreich Saudiarabien gönnt sich an diesem Abend eine ganz besondere Premiere: die erste Flamencovorstellung seit Menschengedenken in der Heimat des Propheten.

Mit dem weltberühmten andalusischen Körperzauber allerdings hat das, was dann im König-Fahd-Kulturzentrum in Riad auf die Bühne kommt, nur sehr entfernt zu tun. Die staatlichen Moralzensoren haben ganze Arbeit geleistet – anderthalb Stunden ohne Paartanz, keine einzige Frau auf der Bühne, nach einem Dutzend einsamer Männersoli fällt der Vorhang. Die Flamencoband spielt die ganze Zeit hinter einem zusätzlichen grauen Sichtschutz – denn zum Ensemble gehört auch eine Frau, die nach saudisch-islamischer Sitte dort nichts zu suchen hat. Selbst beim Schlussapplaus bleibt die Künstlerin den Blicken entzogen, nur einer der Musiker deutet unbeholfen hinter sich in das Bühnendunkel, wo sich seine Kollegin vermutlich irgendwo verborgen hält. „Das haben wir bei unserem letzten Spanien-Urlaub aber viel besser gesehen“, schimpfen zwei Damen in fein bestickten Abayas und streben zu ihren Luxuslimousinen, die samt Fahrer draußen auf dem riesigen Parkplatz warten. » | Von Martin Gehlen | Samstag 21. Januar 2012