Fire in Benahavís: they confine the town and evacuate Monte Mayor

In Andalusia, the declaration of level 1 emergency due to forest fire is mainly governed by the Emergency Plan for Forest Fires of Andalusia (Plan INFOCA), approved by the Decree 371/2010, of September 14, amended by Decree 160/2016, of October 4, and framed within the state civil protection regulations (especially the basic guideline approved by the Royal Decree 893/2013 and its subsequent update). Additionally, the Decree-law 2/2023, of April 11, strengthens the Andalusian emergency system and the integration of INFOCA into a unified structure.

1. Concept of level 1 according to Plan INFOCA

Decree 371/2010 classifies forest fires by potential severity levels:

• Level 0: fires that can be controlled with INFOCA's ordinary means and that, even in their worst reasonable evolution, do not pose a danger to persons unrelated to the extinction nor to assets other than forest ones, nor require a civil protection device.
• Level 1: fires that can also be controlled with INFOCA's extinction means, but where, due to their possible evolution, the need for special measures to protect people and assets (confinements, evacuations, mass alerts, etc.) is foreseen.

All fires are initially considered level 0, unless declared level 1, 2, or 3, with the level able to change according to evolution, weather, and on-site circumstances.

2. Competent bodies to declare level 1

The INFOCA Plan itself distinguishes between the provincial scope and the regional scope of the plan:

• At the provincial level, the Plan Direction at the provincial level (Provincial Direction of the INFOCA Plan, dependent on the Junta de Andalucía) is the one who declares level 1 and decides the activation and convening of the Provincial Advisory Committee.
• At the regional level, the Regional Operational Direction of the Plan declares level 1 and decides the activation and convening of the Regional Advisory Committee and, if applicable, the CECOPI when state resources intervene.

In fires declared level 1, the command of the Advanced Command Post (PMA) is exercised jointly by:

• The Technical Direction of Extinction (INFOCA operative).
• The Technical Direction of Emergencies, performed by the person acting as Emergency Management Coordinator of the Government Delegation of the Junta de Andalucía, or a technician delegated by them.

3. Typical sequence of actions until level 1 declaration

In schematic form, the procedure can be described as follows:

• Detection and initial alert (112-Andalusia, citizen alerts, watchtowers, aerial means, etc.). The 112 Emergency Center activates INFOCA and the corresponding intervention services.
• Initial classification as level 0 fire and mobilization of initial attack means (land and, if applicable, aerial INFOCA resources) under the Technical Direction of Extinction.
• Operational evaluation according to parameters set by the Plan (topography, weather, fuel, presence of infrastructures and inhabited areas, vulnerability, difficulty of action, etc.).
• When the foreseeable evolution implies significant risk to population and non-forest assets, the fire moves to level 1. The Operational Coordination Center (CECOP), established based on 112, coordinates information and notifies operational groups (intervention, health, security, logistical support).
• At the provincial level, the Plan Direction formally declares level 1 and activates the Provincial Advisory Committee; if the fire affects more than one province or has great impact, the Regional Operational Direction may assume regional command and declare level 1 at that level.
• The Advanced Command Post is established or reinforced, whose joint direction (extinction + emergencies) coordinates the response on the ground and submits protection measure proposals to the Plan Direction.

4. Protection measures and emergency closure

The INFOCA Plan foresees that protection measures for the population (confinement, distancing, evacuation, alert systems) are considered from level 1 fires onward. The order can be given by the Plan Direction, at the proposal of the Technical Direction of Emergencies at the PMA, or by the mayor of the affected municipality, who is responsible for their decisions and must coordinate with the device.

The declaration and termination of the emergency correspond to the Plan Direction, which communicates the end to all mobilized groups. Immediate publication in the BOJA is not essential: the level 1 declaration is operationally articulated through internal civil protection decisions, CECOP communications, advisory committee minutes, and orders issued to the PMA and involved services; major episodes and normative scope agreements can be formalized later through published resolutions or agreements.

In summary, level 1 in Andalusia is a technical-political civil protection decision, based on the INFOCA Plan and adopted by the plan's directing bodies (provincial or regional), which activates a reinforced device, joint direction at the PMA, and the possibility of intensive population protection measures.

The Andalusian Agency for Security and Comprehensive Emergency Management (Asema / EMA) is the central pillar of the Andalusian civil protection system and, in particular, of forest fire management. Its competencies are defined by the statutes approved by the Government Council and by the regional emergency planning, and are specified in functions of prevention, risk analysis, operational coordination, support to extinction, and communication to the public.

1. Institutional framework and role in forest fires

According to the official note approving Asema's statutes on December 16, 2024 (Government Council), the Agency:

• Groups in a common management system the 112, Civil Protection, the Institute of Emergencies and Public Safety of Andalusia (IESPA), the Andalusian Emergency Group (GREA), and the Infoca operative.
• Aims to improve effectiveness against civil protection risks and emergencies, including large forest fires, throughout the Andalusian natural and rural environment.
• Assumes the regional competencies for fighting environmental emergencies caused by forest fires, which have been segregated from the Environment and Water Agency (Amaya), according to another note from the same day (Amaya statutes modification).

In practice, this places Asema/EMA as responsible for the organization and coordination of the Infoca device, which is the specialized intervention force in forest fires.

2. Prevention and regulation of uses during risk periods

In the preventive field, the Agency exercises functions of ordering and dissemination of restrictions to avoid fires:

• Informs and enforces the ban on barbecues, agricultural burnings, and motor vehicle circulation in forest areas during the high-risk period (June 1 - October 15), according to the order published in BOJA, as reflected in the note “EMA informs about the ban on barbecues and agricultural burnings in forest areas” (BOJA / EMA).
• Coordinates with the National Police Assigned to Andalusia, which focuses its efforts on monitoring compliance with these restrictions in the forest.
• Promotes public awareness campaigns to encourage safe behaviors in the natural environment.

3. Risk analysis and decision support

The Agency is creating a dedicated unit for analysis and impact assessment regarding civil protection risks, whose origin is the Technical Unit for Forest Fire Analysis (UTAF) of Infoca (note on risk unit). Its specific functions related to forest fires include:

• Preparing technical preliminary reports on fire risk, combining AEMET data with geographic, sociological, and vegetation condition information.
• Anticipating fire evolution scenarios to support decision-making on activation of Plan Infoca phases, resource mobilization, and population protection measures.
• Integrating this analysis into a proactive emergency management, adapted to the context of high-intensity fires linked to climate change.

4. Operational management and coordination of Plan Infoca

Although formal direction of the Emergency Plan for Forest Fires of Andalusia (Plan Infoca) lies with the competent minister, official notes on phase activation and deactivation show that:

• Infoca resources “belong” to the Andalusian Emergency Agency, which integrates brigades, forest firefighters, operations technicians, fire medical units, mobile meteorology and transmission units, and other specialized forest fire resources.
• The Agency participates in the activation of pre-emergency and emergency phases of Plan Infoca and in the de-escalation once fires are stabilized, according to the guidelines of the Territorial Emergency Plan.
• Acts as an integrated technical-operational command: coordinating 112, GREA, Civil Protection, Infoca, and, if applicable, interaction with other bodies (Civil Guard, local police, UME) during major fires.

5. Communications and public information

Another key competency is ensuring critical communications and public information during forest fires:

• The Andalusian Emergency Digital Network (REJA) provides coverage for the Agency's communications, including Infoca, offering geolocation of resources, call prioritization, and secure communications across almost the entire territory (REJA).
• The Agency guarantees permanent attention through 112, with specific quality commitments (e.g., answering 100% of calls within 20 seconds), and disseminates real-time fire information via the “Emergency Platform for Citizens” and official channels.

Overall, the competencies of the Andalusian Emergency Agency in forest fires cover from normative and social prevention, through technical risk analysis, to the integrated operational direction of the Infoca device and the communications and alert network for the population, under the framework of the Andalusian emergency management law and Plan Infoca.

Based on official notes from the Junta de Andalucía, the Málaga City Council, and consulted news, it is possible to identify in the province of Málaga at least a small group of particularly relevant forest fires in the last five years in which civil protection measures (evacuations, confinements, or activation of Plan Infoca phases) were adopted. However, the reviewed documents do not provide an exhaustive count of all forest fires in Málaga during that period, so the total number of incidents is clearly higher.

In summary, with the available information, the main episodes in Málaga can be detailed as follows:

• Árchez–Cómpeta fire (Axarquía, 2026) – forest fire with mass confinement and activation of Situation 1 of Plan Infoca.
• Urban-forest fire in Benahavís (2026) – around one thousand residents evacuated preventively.
• Forest fire in Casares (2024) – activation and subsequent deactivation of the pre-emergency phase of Plan Infoca, with preventive distancing of residents.
• Several minor fires in Teba (2025) – six forest fires burning about 4 hectares, with no extraordinary civil protection measures recorded.

Additionally, the annual reports of Plan Infoca and the Ministry for Ecological Transition indicate that the number of fires and fire outbreaks in Andalusia is very high (hundreds per season), but without detailed provincial breakdown in the reviewed texts. The Ministry itself has enabled an interactive report of forest fire data that would allow obtaining exact figures by province and year (interactive fire report), although such breakdown is not included in the selected documents.

Highlighted episodes and measures adopted

1. Árchez–Cómpeta fire (Axarquía, July 2026)

According to the newspaper Demócrata, the fire declared in the municipality of Árchez spread to the municipality of Cómpeta, in the Axarquía region of Málaga. The main measures were:

• Activation of Operational Situation 1 of the Special Emergency Plan for Forest Fires (Plan Infoca), due to risk to the environment.
• Confinement of about 3,800–4,000 residents of Cómpeta as a preventive measure against fire evolution.
• Deployment of a large extinction device: several helicopters, ground-loading planes, fire trucks, and more than a hundred Infoca personnel and other emergency services.
• Coordinated work to stabilize the perimeter and prevent the fire from reaching other forest masses and inhabited areas.

2. Urban-forest fire in Benahavís (July 2026)

The Junta de Andalucía reported an urban-forest fire in Benahavís that required significant population impact measures (official note):

• Preventive evacuation of about one thousand people, residents in the Parque Botánico urbanization and first line of Los Flamingos (approx. 400 homes).
• Use of the municipal sports center as a reception point, with Red Cross beds for evacuees who required them.
• Activation of the emergency phase, Situation 1, of Plan Infoca, due to the fire's size and the need to protect the population.
• Temporary closure of the AP-7 highway between kilometers 1054 and 1070, later reopened.
• Deployment of about 235 personnel, with 129 working on the ground, 10 fire trucks, and aerial means, coordinated from an Advanced Command Post.

3. Forest fire in Casares (July 2024)

In Casares, a forest fire occurred in July 2024 that led to the activation of the pre-emergency phase of Plan Infoca (activation and deactivation):

• Activation of Pre-emergency (Operational Situation 0) of the Andalusian Forest Fire Emergency Plan, due to uncertainty in fire evolution.
• Temporary distancing of about a dozen people from several homes in the Camino de la Alquita area, as a preventive measure.
• Extensive deployment of Infoca and other bodies, with more than 700 professionals mobilized during the emergency, aerial means, and heavy extinction vehicles.
• Once the fire was stabilized and contained, the pre-emergency was deactivated and residents could return home without personal harm.

4. Repeated fires in Teba (July–August 2025)

The Ministry of the Interior reported the arrest of the alleged author of six forest fires in Teba (Ministry of the Interior note):

• The incidents occurred between July 19 and August 3, with a total burned area of about 4 hectares.
• Some fire origins were very close to homes, but in the reviewed documentation no mass evacuations or specific regulatory changes linked to these episodes are recorded.
• The main noted “measure” is of a penal and police nature: investigation and arrest of the alleged perpetrator for continued forest fire offenses.

Subsequent prevention and management measures

Beyond each specific fire, administrations have reinforced prevention and forest management:

• The Málaga City Council has launched systematic work of firebreak clearing, preventive pruning, and maintenance in forest and peri-urban parks (municipal note 05/10/2026), as well as a reforestation plan in Gibralfaro and El Morlaco (02/22/2026).
• The Junta de Andalucía has increased investment in Plan Infoca and reinforced personnel and resources, highlighting that in recent campaigns 80% of fires remain as outbreaks (Infoca investments and 2025 balance).

Consequently, it can be said that the most impactful fires in Málaga in the last five years have mainly led to operational measures (evacuations, confinements, reinforcement of resources, and activation of Plan Infoca phases) and to a progressive intensification of prevention and investment in extinction devices, although the total number of forest fires in the province during that period can only be determined accurately by consulting detailed statistical records (such as the MITECO interactive tool) which are not fully reproduced in the reviewed documents.