Los Gallardos (Spain) (AFP) – As flames raced toward the Spanish village of Bedar, Manoli Ramos received a desperate order from the mayor: run to the church and ring the bells to warn residents of the danger closing in.
Issued on: 11/07/2026 - 14:34
3 min Reading time
"We rang the bells many times so people would know," the 72-year-old Bedar town councillor told AFP in the nearby town of Los Gallardos, where she has sought refuge since the blaze broke out on Thursday.Twelve people died after getting trapped in vehicles and as they tried to flee on foot -- most of them foreigners, according to officials.The blaze has torn through over 6,000 hectares of land and devastated an area that had become a peaceful refuge for foreign residents, particularly Britons who came to retire or spend holidays among the green hills near Spain's Mediterranean coast.
The flames raged through the brush near the village © JOSE JORDAN / AFP
