The wildfires ravaging some of France and Spain’s most popular destinations are pushing some British second home-owners to sell up over fears their properties could be under threat.
Roy Patrick and Karen Smith, a retired 72-year-old couple from Oxford, told The i Paper they were concerned about the fires in Andalucia, in southeastern Spain, where they own a three-bedroom villa in the coastal province of Almeria.
They are now trying to sell the property, which they bought in 2021 for €180,000 (£154,000), and plan to purchase a home in Italy instead.
Recent fires in Almeria killed 14 people, including seven Britons, and burned more than 7,000 hectares of land, leading to the evacuation of 1,500 people.
The couple’s property is located on the outskirts of the village of Tabernas, where just over 3,000 people live surrounded by Europe’s only true desert area, about 30 kilometres north of Almeria city.
“I’m really worried, I’m not there at my villa right now, and I try to monitor the situation online with fire maps and CCTV cameras at the property, as I can’t really rely on my neighbours warning me,” said Mr Patrick. a former businessman who imported second-hand vehicles from Europe.
The couple, who put their home in Almeria on the market this week, usually visit the property several times a year for short stays.
Mr Patrick, 72, says he is ‘really worried’ about the fires and tries to monitor his property from afar using fire maps and CCTV (Photo: Roy Patrick)Although Tabernas is mostly barren land, and Mr Patrick’s villa is built of concrete without any wood, the area is full of palms and olive groves – used to produce the region’s prized extra virgin olive oil – which could easily catch fire.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the desert will act as a shield, but you never know, there are spots with thick vegetation and so many olive trees,” said Mr Patrick. “Moreover, it has never been as hot as this year.”
The heat in Tabernas has become “intolerable” with frequent sand and dust winds from the Sahara Desert turning the villa’s walls and roof yellow, he added. Mr Patrick has insured his villa in case of fires and other hazards, but fears what he could lose should the blazes ever burn it to ashes.
The property is a traditional, whitewashed Andalucian property with a wine cellar, fully restyled with high-end decor including vintage furniture. “I’d hate to lose what’s inside … so many valuable things including a £600 radio-controlled plane,” said Mr Patrick, who called the threat “unsettling”.
If the fires do not spread further, the couple will head to Tabernas next week to meet potential buyers and monitor the situation on the ground.
A house surrounded by the aftermath of deadly wildfires in Bedar, Almeria, on 13 July (Photo: Reuters/Ana Beltran)“I can’t believe many fires in Spain are being caused by idiots who have fun starting them,” said Mr Patrick, as police revealed they suspected arson in the massive Vall d’Uixó fire in the eastern province of Castellon, after finding two separate ignition points.
“I am watching what is happening daily. So far we’ve been lucky – the fires haven’t reached the village.”
In the coastal city of Valencia to the north, Mary Taylor, a 74-year-old widow from Leeds who owns a two-bedroom apartment with covetable views near the centre, is packing her bags to return to the UK. “I’ve already handed the keys to the agency, this house is on sale. The fires around Valencia are freaking me out. I have nightmares at night. What if the blazes reach the city?”
Mrs Taylor bought the “quite expensive” flat three years ago for €250,000 (£214,000), and doesn’t want to lose her investment if it is affected by fire.
More than 200,000 hectares have burnt in Castellón province, 30 kilometres north of the city. “The fires are practically at the gates of Valencia, it’s been chaotic these days and the quality of the city air is terrible because of the smoke clouds. It’s bad for my lungs,” she said.
A firefighting aircraft drops fire retardant over a forest near Bordeaux, France, on 30 July, as crews continue efforts to contain a wildfire (Photo: Dragan Lekic/Anadolu via Getty Images)France, too, has been ravaged by wildfires, with more than 220,000 people evacuated from the south-western area around Bordeaux. Brighton-based couple Philip and Margaret Roberts, both 77, are selling their two-bedroom farmhouse on the outskirts of the village of Tresses, 13 kilometres east of Bordeaux.
“We spend two months every summer here, but it’s no longer safe”, said Mr Roberts, a retired market analyst. “Staying would be insane. We’re just a few miles from the wildfires and there are forests all around. You never know what scenario there’ll be in the future.”
The couple was about to leave for Tresses when the wildfires broke out. Their French neighbours called them saying smoke had drifted in from the west. They cancelled their trip and after viewing “apocalyptic” scenes on TV, decided to sell the farmhouse, which they bought ten years ago for €500,000 (£428,000).
“We will wait till summer is over, now is not a good moment to place it on the market as we’d have to undersell it, most likely. We pray every day that the fires don’t reach Tresses,” he added.
Other British residents in France and Spain voiced concern to The i Paper about the negative impact of the wildfires news on tourism.
Joanne Greenhalgh, from Birmingham, runs a small boutique hotel in Archidona, north of Malaga, which cost her about £420,000. She complains about “media misreporting”.
“We are badly impacted this season by people who are not booking because they assume all of Spain, which is a very large country, is affected by the fires. We absolutely love living in Spain and have no intention of selling up,” she said.
Spain’s fires are also affecting relocation choices. Alastair Johnson, who runs an agency in Sitges, near Barcelona, helping British people relocate, says there has been “a major uptick in questions related to extreme weather given changing climate when people are thinking about where to live in Spain”.
Floods, extreme heat events and fires are getting enough media coverage to factor into decisions around which areas to choose, says Johnson.
“The wildfires will impact Spain’s natural disaster rating. I think the key issue is that one should think of the affected areas as similar to those in the UK with repeated floods, where people cannot buy home insurance.”
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