The norm forces the autonomous communities to have brigades in front of the fires throughout the year
The Congress has validated this Thursday the royal decree that the Government approved on August 1 with urgent measures aimed at improving the prevention and response capacity of the autonomous communities against forest fires.
The decree obliges the autonomies to prepare before October 31 a prevention and extinction plan of fires that is valid for all its territory and is applied in an interrupted manner throughout the year, because as experts and brigadistas maintain, fires go out in winter (thanks to prevention measures). “It is no longer worth thinking only in a few weeks or in some geographical areas,” defended the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera.
Ribera recalled that climate change is causing the forest area burned to have increased this summer to exceed the 229,000 hectares burned, “well above the historical average.” Also, there have been 50 big fires, a figure that was only surpassed in 2006, when 68 large fires were recorded. “There are more and more fires, more complex and more difficult to guarantee the physical means,” the minister stressed.
the skills
For this reason, he has defended that the basic legislation against fires be “updated and improved”, as well as the coordination and training of those who work to prevent and extinguish fires. The competition in forest fires is one of the autonomous communities and some, such as Castilla y León, have not done their homework, according to forest firefighters, which is why the Government has reformed the legislation to establish some minimum requirements and that there are no major differences depending on the territory.
For this reason, the main novelty of the decree is that it obliges the territorial administrations to have plans that foresee a stable and permanent allocation of technical and professional resourcesalso in winter, and that said measure becomes a reality before January 31, 2023. For its part, the State undertakes to maintain air assets and support measures active throughout the year.
the bans
Also, the legislation establishes a minimum catalog of prohibitions that communities must apply when the risk of fire is high or very high, such as prohibiting the burning of stubble or the use of agricultural machinery.
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In addition, the norm reinforces institutional coordination and establishes a cooperative model for the restoration of burned areas.
The groups nationalists and independence supporters have warned the Executive that the rule invades competitions and that in “three months it is impossible to adopt prevention and extinction services” to the contained requirements, but even so the decree has been validated by 265 votes in favor, six against and 77 abstentions. What has not come forward is the request that the royal decree be transformed into a legal project in order to incorporate modifications.