Spain urges stronger prevention after Almeria wildfire kills 13

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for stronger wildfire prevention after a blaze in Almeria province killed 13 people and burned a large rural area near the Mediterranean coast. Sanchez visited the southern municipality of Turre on Monday to meet emergency services working to extinguish the fire, which began Thursday and has burned about 7,000 hectares of forest and scrubland.

Sanchez said Spain must not only respond to fires after they happen but also prevent them, saying climate change is making civil protection emergencies more frequent. He cited better protection for municipalities and training courses for young people on how to react.

Juanma Moreno, the leader of Andalusia's regional government, also called for stronger public awareness and self-protection. He said people could respond more quickly when they see smoke, notice suspicious behaviour by possible arsonists or receive warnings from authorities.

The fire spread at up to 100 metres per minute at its peak last week, trapping victims in vehicles or on foot as they tried to escape. Authorities have said some victims may not have followed warnings in time. Officials have cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and body identifications are completed. Officials coordinating identification work said Sunday that 10 formal missing-person reports had been filed, and British, Belgian and French authorities were helping provide genetic profiles from relatives.

Calmer winds and cooler temperatures helped hundreds of firefighters bring the blaze under greater control over the weekend. Authorities suspect it began when a power line broke and set fire to vegetation dried out after hot weather pushed temperatures above 40C.

Scientists say human-caused climate change is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves, which can contribute to wildfires, more likely and more intense. Moreno said climate change was having a very large impact and described recent conditions as exceptional and increasingly explosive. Sanchez warned that Spain faced a complex summer requiring vigilance and a quick response.

AFP reported that deadly wildfires burned almost 400,000 hectares in Spain last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.