Relatives of British nationals killed in a wildfire in southern Spain are demanding a public inquiry, after regional politicians voted to block an official investigation into the disaster.

Nine British citizens were among the 15 people who died when fire swept through the hillside village of Bédar, in the province of Almería, on 9 July. Of the 15 victims, 14 were foreign nationals — nine British, three Belgian, one French and one American. The remaining victim was Spanish.

The governing People's Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party in the Andalusian parliament rejected a request for a commission of inquiry put forward by the opposition Socialist party, to which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez belongs. The PP and Vox argued that an ongoing criminal investigation would provide the necessary answers.

Families of the victims say that is not enough. They are calling for a transparent public probe and say they are appalled by the decision to block one.

"It's just outrageous. It's an injustice. As family members, we're absolutely disgusted. This is an insult," said Duncan Chard, whose father Michael and his father's partner Christine were among those killed.

Chard also blamed official failures for a number of the deaths, pointing in particular to the decision not to send an emergency alert to mobile phones as the fire closed in.

"If that evacuation warning had come through in time, my father would still be alive," he said.

Michael Chard had built his house in Bédar from scratch. His son described it as his father's dream home. "He called it Casa Micas," Duncan Chard said. "It was his place in the sun, it was his little paradise."

On the morning of the fire, Michael's partner Christine had met friends and was due to go to the hairdresser. "Then everything changed... the whole world changed for them," his son said.

Duncan Chard said his father, who had two artificial knees and walked with a stick, left the house with Christine as soon as they saw the flames. They left their phones and passports behind and attempted to escape by car, but the road was blocked.

"This is an action of a brave person who was fighting to the end," Chard said.

Andalusia's emergencies chief, Antonio Sanz, has said the region chose not to use the mobile phone alert system because it could not be tailored to specific communities. Officials argued that some residents needed to evacuate while others were safer sheltering in place, and that a mass alert could have caused panic and traffic jams.

The families reject those explanations outright.

"Issue the damned alert!" said Chard. "Ring the bells, send the police guy out with his horn, go door to door, do everything."

Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, a Belgian virologist whose father Stanislas, 63, also died in the fire, said he was on the phone with his father as the flames approached. He said the victims received no guidance from authorities.

"They never received advice on what they should do, and certainly not warnings that they were in danger," he said, adding that official claims of adequate warning were false.

"The only contact that the government managed to make with the victims was a couple of minutes before the flames engulfed everyone. One police car drove by with the sirens on. There was no talking, there was no messaging."

Verdonckt said the official account that emerged after the fire contradicted his own experience. "The morning afterwards, the Spanish officials brought out... a version of events which was simply the complete opposite of what I experienced," he said.

In the days following the disaster, Sanz faced criticism for appearing to blame the victims, saying that some of those who died had made the decision to leave "at the last minute, took the wrong path."

Bédar's emergency plan was last approved in 2019. Regional officials said it was in the process of being updated at the time of the fire. The municipality is classified by the Andalusian government as being at risk from wildfires.

Families say their grief has been compounded by the way police have handled the remains and belongings of their loved ones since the fire.

Verdonckt said a public inquiry was essential to prevent a similar tragedy in the future. "They are putting the safety of citizens in second place. That's simply not okay."

The Andalusian government, the PP and Vox have been approached for comment.