The Junta de Andalucia has declared three days of official mourning following the deaths of at least 12 people in the Almeria wildfire.
The period of mourning began at midnight on Friday and will remain in force until midnight on Sunday, according to an extraordinary edition of the Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA).
During this time, the Andalucian flag will fly at half-mast outside all public buildings where its display is mandatory.
The announcement came after regional president Juanma Moreno confirmed that the death toll from the wildfire had risen to 12, with 23 people still unaccounted for.
Speaking from the emergency command centre established at the Turre fire station, Moreno warned that firefighters could take ‘several days’ to bring the blaze under control.
Around 3,200 hectares have already been destroyed in what Moreno described as an ‘extremely complex’ wildfire that spread ‘like gunpowder’ through steep, rugged terrain.
He said the mountainous landscape has severely hampered firefighting efforts, making it difficult for fire engines and heavy machinery to reach some of the worst-affected areas.
The Military Emergency Unit (UME) is currently working in the northern sector of the fire to construct a containment barrier using heavy machinery, although Moreno acknowledged that some parts of the area are too steep and dangerous for equipment to access safely.
The Los Gallardos wildfire is already being described as the deadliest in Andalucia’s modern history, with hundreds of firefighters, soldiers and aircraft continuing to battle the flames.
