🔥 Los Gallardos Wildfire: Under Control After Four Days of Devastation

The President of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía), Juanma Moreno, announced on July 13, 2026 that the forest fire declared on July 9 at 18:00 hs in the municipality of Los Gallardos, Almería (southern Spain) is now under control, after several days of intense fighting against the flames that scorched more than 6,600 hectares of land.

The cause of the disaster was the fall of a high-voltage power pole, which triggered a fire reaching speeds of up to 100 meters per minute, driven by strong winds that only began to calm down on July 12.

Controversy Over the ES-Alert System

One of the most debated issues following the tragedy is the non-use of the ES-Alert system. This is Spain's mass emergency alert mechanism, designed under the European Union directive to notify the public during emergencies. Various sectors are questioning why authorities did not activate this system, which could have allowed for a faster evacuation of residents in risk zones. Spain's Minister Bolañas highlighted the institutional cooperation without questioning the decision to not send alerts.

Victim Identification Efforts

Victim samples have been sent to Madrid for DNA testing to allow for proper identification, as many of those affected suffered severe burns making recognition difficult. This process may take several days, prolonging the anguish for families still searching for their loved ones among the 23 missing. The authorities are committed to bringing answers and closure to the affected families.

What is the ES-Alert System?

For our international readers, the ES-Alert is Spain's public emergency alert system, implemented under the framework of the European directive EECC (European Electronic Communications Code). Its function is to send text messages to all mobile phones within a specific geographic area, without requiring users to be previously registered. The system is activated automatically from mobile phone antennas and allows alerting the population about imminent risks such as fires, floods, or extreme weather events. Its non-activation during this fire sparked an intense debate about the efficacy of emergency protocols.

An Argentine Photographer Captured the Fury of the Fire

Amidst the devastation, an Argentine photographer managed to capture a striking image: a fire whirl consuming a tree, one of the most moving scenes documenting the magnitude of the disaster in Almería. The phenomenon, also known as a fire tornado, occurs when intense heat generates a vortex that combines air, fire, and fuel, forming rotating columns of flames that can reach tens of meters in height.