Spain to check if wildfire-hit towns ignored prevention plans
Spain's environmental prosecutor has ordered officials to verify whether municipalities affected by wildfires complied with their legal obligation to adopt prevention plans, according to a document seen Thursday by AFP.
The move comes as tensions mount between Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government and conservative-led regional authorities over how to manage the fires that have scorched record amounts of land.
Under Spain's decentralised system, regional governments lead the response to disasters, though the central state can intervene when emergencies escalate.
The northwestern regions of Galicia and Castilla y León, along with Extremadura in the west, have been hit hardest by the fires raging since early August in the scorching heat.
Regional governments are required to draw up prevention strategies, but the newspaper El País reported the national government has yet to issue a decree establishing common criteria for such plans.
In his letter to local justice officials across the country, Spain's environmental prosecutor Antonio Vercher argued it was "evident" that the scale of the wildfires stemmed from the absence or poor implementation of prevention measures.
MAPS: How to check for active wildfires in Spain
He urged local prosecutors to consider pressing criminal responsibility charges in the most serious cases.
Spain faced similar controversy in October 2024, when deadly floods in the eastern region of Valencia sparked clashes between Sánchez's government and conservative regional leaders over accountability for disaster preparedness.
Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, said Thursday that improved weather conditions should allow firefighters to make "significant progress" in containing the flames.
More than 403,000 hectares (996,000 acres) have been burnt in Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
READ ALSO: 6 reasons why Spain's wildfires are so bad this year
That surpasses the previous record of 306,000 hectares in 2022, the worst season since records began in 2006.
Scientists say climate change is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves worldwide.
Lower humidity in the air, vegetation and soil makes wildfires easier to ignite and harder to control once they spread.
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