Over 5,000 people, including some 300 British expats, have been evacuated from the popular Spanish tourist resort of Marbella, after strong winds fanned a huge blaze across the Costa del Sol.

One elderly man has been killed in the fires, and two people have suffered serious burns after the flames threatened a housing estate in the northern part of the city.

The wildfire initially engulfed the coastal strip nearby Malaga in the early hours of Friday morning, and local authorities do not know how the blaze started.

These two local residents spoke of the shock and surprise of the overnight wildfire, that is reported to have flames almost 15 metres high.

"I know nothing, I know nothing. I don't know whether my house is still there or not. I know nothing."

"It's been very unexpected. We knew there was a fire but we weren't aware of its magnitude. We didn't expect it."

More than 250 fire-fighters and 17 aircraft are now desperately battling the blaze, with the hopes that the drop in wind speed will mean the flames can soon be contained.

With unusually dry and hot weather this year, Spain is facing its worst wildfires in a decade. More than three times as much forest has burned so far this year than in the whole of 2011.

Written and presented by Alfred Joyner