ALMERIA PROVINCE — A wildfire in Spain's Almeria Province killed at least 12 people on July 12, 2026. Thirteen people died trying to escape the wildfires that spread to Bedar above the town of Los Gallardos.

Stanislas Verdonckt, a 63-year-old Belgian businessman, was among those who perished in the blaze. His son, Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, has disputed the account of Spanish officials regarding warnings given to wildfire victims, asserting that no instructions or alerts were issued before the fire reached their community.

Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt spoke to his father by phone shortly before 1900 GMT on Thursday evening as the fire advanced on Bedar. He described his father as calm and analytical during their final phone conversation. “My father is one of the smartest people I know. He's always very analytical and was just checking boxes: 'Can we do this? Can we do that?'” Verdonckt said.

According to Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, a group of neighbors, including his father, attempted to drive away on a paved road on Thursday night but were blocked by flames. The group then tried to flee by car in the opposite direction on a dead-end dirt lane, abandoned their vehicles, and tried to escape on foot. “At that point, it was just minutes before they were engulfed and they were trapped,” he said. “They only started to run when the flames were almost upon them. That was their absolute last resort.”

Verdonckt traveled to Spain after the fire and spoke with surviving neighbors. He stated that a surviving neighbor reported flames approached close enough to touch his house. Verdonckt maintained that no official guidance preceded the emergency. “The people who died did not fail to follow any orders because no orders were given. No information was provided,” he said.

The Andalusia regional government offered a different account. In a Sunday night statement, it said Bedar Mayor Angel Collado urged Stanislas Verdonckt's group to shelter in place. The government stated that local mayors and police went door-to-door or called residents to indicate evacuation routes or instruct them to shelter in place. It also said no text alert was sent to residents because advice differed depending on location and developments.

The Andalusian government stated it supported the Bedar mayor's decision to order citizens to stay in their homes as the safest option given fire conditions. It provided photographs showing Stanislas Verdonckt's home was only lightly damaged by flames and stated that the home would have been a safe haven. Stanislas Verdonckt had a home in the Bedar area for many years, knew the terrain well, and spoke Spanish.

Stanislas Verdonckt was found dead in a valley below the Paraje el Curato area on the outskirts of Bedar. Eight victims of the wildfire were found dead in the same valley. The victims included mainly foreigners and one Spaniard, though the identities of the 13 deceased have not been officially confirmed. Ten people have been reported missing following the wildfires. The fire was declared contained by lunchtime on Sunday.

Why It Matters

The dispute centers on whether timely and clear emergency instructions were issued during a fast-moving wildfire that killed 13 people. Verdonckt’s account challenges the regional government’s assertion that shelter-in-place orders were communicated, raising questions about emergency protocols in rural areas of Spain’s Andalusia region, which includes Almería Province.

Government officials acknowledged public skepticism in the wake of the tragedy. “We understand the families’ grief and respect the fact that, in times of immense suffering such as these, anger and a sense of helplessness in the face of tragedy can lead to a different perception of what happened,” a government statement said.