A devastating wildfire near Los Gallardos in Almería spread toward Bédar on Thursday, July 9, 2026, leaving at least twelve people dead in initial reports. It marked the most severe tragedy the town had faced in decades. As flames approached that afternoon, mayor Ángel Collado, who has led Bédar since 2003, went door to door with his council team and the town’s only police officer, urging residents to evacuate. Church bells rang out, a traditional signal that quickly spread the alarm through the community. The fire reached the La Serena area, about three kilometres from Bédar’s urban centre.
Collado, 56, has deep roots in Bédar and has consistently won elections by absolute majority. Yet he admitted that nothing in his long tenure had prepared him for the scale of the disaster. Most victims were found in vehicles on rural roads as they tried to escape the advancing flames. Four bodies were initially discovered in cars, followed by eight more along another route. Later coverage raised the final death toll to fifteen as further fatalities were confirmed. Canal Sur described the blaze as the deadliest of the century in the region and reported that most of those who died were foreign residents or nationals living in the area.
Throughout the crisis, Collado’s phone rang constantly. While coordinating the emergency response, he inadvertently missed a call from King Felipe VI and only later realized who had tried to reach him. The king called back to express concern for the town and commend Collado’s efforts, briefly lifting the mayor’s spirits during an otherwise harrowing day. The royal family’s connection to Bédar is not new: Queen Sofía had previously shown support during a 2012 fire and subsequent flood that also forced evacuations in the region.
For Collado, the tragedy is personal. He describes himself as “Bédar through and through,” having never lived elsewhere. Daily interactions with residents, many of whom he knows by name, reinforce his ties to the community. In small towns like Bédar, he notes, a mayor’s role extends far beyond politics, making them a trusted adviser and problem-solver for neighbors. Political divisions are less pronounced here, with local leaders from different parties, such as Rosa María Cano of nearby Mojácar, expressing mutual respect and a shared commitment to their communities.
Before entering politics, Collado ran a workshop building brick-making machinery in Los Gallardos, where the fire began. He started public service as a councilor in 1991 and became mayor in 2003 after his predecessor fell ill. Despite initial reluctance because of family and work obligations, he accepted the role and has since become a fixture in local leadership.
The emergency prompted evacuations across Los Gallardos and Bédar as the fire moved through rural and populated areas. Regional reporting said about 50 residents had already left their homes by the time Andalucía’s population-evacuation plan was activated, about three hours after the first evacuations. The blaze was reported to have burned around 7,000 hectares and forced more than 1,000 people to leave during the initial emergency. It was declared stabilized on the Sunday after it began. Residents returned progressively while crews continued monitoring hot spots.
Dozens of people have mobilized in the aftermath to restore safety and help residents return home. Collado remains at the center of these efforts, balancing crisis management with the emotional toll of loss in a close-knit community. The response and warnings have also become a subject of public discussion: relatives of victims questioned whether alerts came early enough, while regional authorities said instructions were communicated in person or by telephone, information from conditions in each sector. Collado was reported to have advised one group to shelter rather than attempt to flee, reflecting how decisions varied with local conditions as the fire advanced.
The cause of the Los Gallardos fire remained under investigation, with the Guardia Civil’s environmental-protection service, SEPRONA, examining the incident. Seasonal statistics put the crisis in a wider context but do not establish the cause of this particular blaze: Andalucía recorded 58,735 hectares burned and 6,444 people evacuated across the region during the high-risk fire season. Three months after the fire, residents in La Serena were still rebuilding homes and trying to restore their routines. The tragedy in Bédar echoes other recent disasters in the region, including the deadly wildfire in Los Gallardos, as detailed in this related report on the Los Gallardos wildfire.
Wildfires remain a persistent threat in southern Spain, particularly during periods of extreme heat and dry vegetation, especially when winds strengthen. Rural communities like Bédar face emergency-response challenges because of limited resources and difficult terrain. The events show the value of local leadership and rapid communication, backed by evacuation planning suited to vulnerable areas. As recovery efforts continue, the focus remains on supporting survivors and preventing future tragedies of this scale.
