Relatives of Britons killed in this summer's wildfires in Spain have told the BBC they are disgusted after regional politicians blocked an official inquiry into the disaster. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.

Nine British nationals were among the 15 people who died when fire ripped through the hillside village of Bédar, in the province of Almería in south-eastern Spain, on 9 July.

Families have criticised the authorities' actions, including the decision not to send an emergency alert to mobile phones as the flames closed in.

"If that evacuation warning had come through in time, my father would still be alive," says Duncan Chard, who blames failures by officials on the day for a number of the deaths.

He lost his father Michael and his dad's partner Christine.

The governing People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox in the Andalusian parliament have rejected a request for a commission of inquiry made 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.

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

Families of those killed say there must be a public and transparent probe.

"It's just outrageous. It's an injustice. As family members, we're absolutely disgusted. This is an insult," says Duncan Chard.

The families also say their grief has been made worse by how police have handled their loved ones' remains and belongings since the fire.

Michael Chard built his house in Bédar from scratch. "He called it Casa Micas," his son 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," he said.

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

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

Andalusia's emergencies chief, Antonio Sanz, has said the region decided not to use the system that sends emergency alerts to mobile phones because it could not be tailored to specific communities.

Officials have said some residents needed to evacuate while others were safer staying in their homes. They also argued an alert could have caused panic and traffic jams.

"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, died, was on the phone to him as the flames approached.

He says the victims "never received advice on what they should do, and certainly not warnings that they were in danger", and that the authorities' claim that everyone in the area was given adequate warning is not true.

"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."

Bédar's emergency plan was last approved in 2019, and regional officials say it was in the process of being updated. The municipality is classified by the Andalusian government as being at risk from wildfires.

Of the 15 people who died in Bédar, 14 were foreign nationals: nine British citizens, three Belgian, one French and one American. The other victim was Spanish.

In the days after the fire, Sanz faced a backlash for appearing to blame the victims. He said some people who made the decision to leave "at the last minute, took the wrong path".

Verdonckt has been trying to find answers ever since the blaze.

"The morning afterwards, the Spanish officials brought out... a version of events which was simply the complete opposite of what I experienced," he said.

He also believes a public inquiry is needed to prevent a similar disaster happening in Spain in the future.