The Government Allocates 115 Million Euros for a More Challenging Fire Prevention Campaign This Year.

The Government has approved this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers the 2025 Plan of actions for prevention and combat against forest fires, for which an investment of 115.8 million euros has been allocated, as announced by Pilar Alegría, the minister spokesperson of the Executive. This budget, “more significant than the previous year,” according to the minister, will be especially dedicated to prevention and cleaning actions. “The rapid response contingent is maintained, in this case, by the Military Emergency Unit (UME), with more than 1,400 personnel, over 70 aircraft, and the deployment of reinforcement brigades for forest fires,” she detailed.

This action plan, which involves 10 ministries, allocates 70.3 million euros to cleaning road margins and 45.5 million to the railway network managed by Adif, a public entity that depends on the Ministry of Transport. Agents from the UME and a state fleet of 14 firefighting planes will continue, as they did last summer, along with 63 aircraft coordinated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition, as detailed later by the Government in a press release.

The fire-fighting campaign for 2025 began on June 1, 15 days earlier than usual. The weather conditions for early June, along with the fuel moisture level, have led to expectations of a more complicated season, with higher temperatures and an increase in forest mass after the intense rainy season.

Wildfires affected 47,711 hectares last summer, the lowest figure since 2018. Despite this, five people lost their lives due to the fire, one of whom was a member of the firefighting teams, and 48 injuries were reported; among them, 18 members of the firefighting teams. 6,600 people were evacuated, and the municipality most affected was Ontinyent (36,430 inhabitants, Valencia) where about 1,500 were evacuated, according to the report presented at the end of May by the director of Civil Protection, Virginia Barcones. A total of 306 people were arrested or investigated.

There were 16 major wildfires (GIF), defined as those affecting more than 500 hectares, which represented 35% of the total burned area. Extremadura was the most affected region, with five GIF, followed by Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha, with three.

The state device complements the resources of the autonomous communities, which hold the competence for managing fires. Among other resources, it includes the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF) and the large-capacity water bomber fleet of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, operated by the 43rd Group of the Air and Space Army. It also includes the UME, from the Ministry of Defense, and the operational groups organized by the National Police, Civil Guard, and the General Directorate of Traffic for each specific fire.

The proximity of urban areas to the forest increases the risk of what are known as Urban Forest Interface Fires, in which residences and other infrastructures may be damaged. Last year, nine wildfires caused damage to such constructions.