ROME — A fast-spreading forest fire in southern Spain claimed nearly a dozen lives including foreign nationals, local authorities said, elevating the death toll of Europe’s blistering summer.

The fire started near Los Gallardos, a town in Andalusia known for drawing foreign retirees and expats. One of the people who died was probably Spanish, while the others “appeared” to be foreign nationals, including four British citizens, according to Antonio Sanz, the health and emergencies minister in Andalusia.