The deaths of several British residents in the devastating Almeria wildfire may have been caused by them failing to follow evacuation advice, according to the president of Andalucia.

Juanma Moreno said on Friday that the death toll from the Los Gallardos blaze had risen to 12, while 23 people remain missing as emergency crews continue searching the disaster zone.

Speaking from Turre after visiting the affected area, Moreno said authorities had gone door-to-door warning residents in isolated rural properties, with some instructed to evacuate and others told to remain inside their homes.

‘Some, unfortunately, did not follow the request that was made to them,’ Moreno said.

‘The failure to follow those recommendations probably caused the tragic loss of life that we have seen.’

Earlier on Friday, regional officials said at least four of those killed are believed to be British, although formal identification of the victims is still ongoing.

The fire has burned through around 3,200 hectares after spreading at extraordinary speed, travelling up to 15km in just two hours.

Moreno said the blaze was fuelled by winds of up to 50km/hr and dry vegetation, describing it as one of the fastest and most complex wildfires Andalucía has faced in recent years.

Why no emergency phone alert was sent

Moreno also defended the decision not to issue an ES-Alert emergency text message, despite criticism over the lack of a mass warning.

He said emergency commanders concluded that a single alert could have created confusion because residents in different locations were being given different instructions.

‘There were places where people had to stay inside their homes, and others where they had to leave immediately,’ he explained. ‘The evacuation routes were not even the same.’

He added that ES-Alert could not accurately target the scattered rural communities affected by the fire and noted that three mobile phone base stations failed during the emergency, reducing network coverage.

Instead, local authorities, Guardia Civil officers and municipal officials carried out face-to-face warnings, visiting homes individually to tell residents whether they should shelter in place or evacuate using specific routes.

Emergency services remain focused on locating the 23 people still unaccounted for.

Moreno said the fire is believed to have started beside a roadside after a broken electrical cable ignited dry vegetation.

However, the precise cause will only be confirmed once the official investigation has been completed.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.