Hundreds of Britons flee blaze near Marbella amid arson fears

Strong winds have fanned the flames in the Costa Del Sol region, and Spanish authorities suspect the blaze may have been started deliberately.

The Foreign Office said “several hundred” Britons have been evacuated from the popular tourist area, including around 300 who have relocated to shelters.

Some 4,000 people in total have left their homes as a result of the fire, which Regional Interior Ministry official Jose Luis Ruiz Espejo said started outside the town of Coin, northeast of Marbella.

Residents of the nearby town of Ojen was forced to move out as flames swept through the valley. Most spent much of Thursday night sheltered in sports centres in Marbella.

Fernando Fernandez, mayor of Mijas, a popular whitewashed hillside tourist destination, said many residents had left, but strong east winds had “fortunately for us, swept the fire westwards, toward Marbella”.

The regional government of Andalucia said an elderly man’s charred body was found Friday “in a tool shed” near Ojen. Jose Antonio Grinan, the regional president, said two people were being treated for burns and bruises.

Mr Grinan said if the suspicion of arson is proven true, it would be “a criminal act”.

The Foreign Office said there had been no reports of any injuries to British residents or tourists, nor any requests for urgent assistance.

Holidaymakers said, however, they were feeling the effects of the smoke.

Tourist Sara Hesketh told the BBC: “We’ve all got coughs with all the smoke and stuff and we’re all exhausted because none of us have had any sleep.

“We’re just waiting now to go home, really.”

An FCO spokesman said: “We have deployed consular staff to visit evacuation centres and they are providing assistance to British residents who have had to leave their homes. We estimate that several hundred Britons have been evacuated, including some 300 who have been relocated to evacuations centres in the La Cala de Mijas and Calahonda areas.

“We are working closely with the Spanish authorities who are handling the evacuation centres and communications with local residents.”

The FCO said it would continue to update the travel advice on the Spain page of its website.

Spain has seen 580 square miles (1,500 sq km) of land burned 
in nearly 12,000 wildfires this 
year, a tripling of the average each year.

Severe fires have raged on the Canary Islands of La Gomera and Tenerife, with wildfires also threatening some of Spain’s most treasured national parks.

The state meteorological agency had warned of a “high risk” of fires as the country sweltered in a hot summer, with temperatures reaching 44C (111.2F) in southern areas, which followed a dry winter.

Other European nations, including Greece, Portugal and Bosnia, also have faced blazes spawned by similar conditions.

The government of Bosnia 
said it was considering asking for international help after a blaze around the southern mountain of Prenj, which has burned continuously for three weeks, has left the area resembling a smoking volcano.