The General Director of Interior and Emergencies, Miguel Ángel Clavero, has admitted in his appearance this morning before the Commission of Finance, Budgets, Interior and Public Administration that "this year there has been a demanding campaign of forest fires that forces us to rethink the measures we must adopt for the future." In line with this idea, he has also emphasized that "forest fires do not exclusively affect rural areas, but can compromise infrastructures and endanger agricultural and livestock operations."
In his speech, Clavero lamented that "the situations that most affect us in Aragón regarding forest fires are those we had this summer," a period that, as he recalled, "has been the warmest and the third driest," marked by "high temperatures, low relative humidity, winds with changes in direction, and dry storms."
The person in charge of Interior and Emergencies has also specified that "during the beginning of summer, the accidental causes of the fires were the predominant ones, but later they were the meteorological ones and, above all, the dry storms," he added. He also explained that "our fires this summer are not in the seventh generation that technicians are starting to talk about, but it is very close to that meteorological situation."
Clavero cited as an example the five major fires that ravaged Aragón in the municipalities of Alcampell, Leciñena, Orés, Ejulve, and in the cliffs of Riglos, which "were large fires, with almost forty-five thousand hectares affected, confined towns, and the loss of forest masses." He also detailed that "the UME was activated this summer in ten forest fires, working simultaneously with three tactical teams, two forest fire brigades from Poland were mobilized, the Málaga Agreement for forest fires was activated once, and we were supported by ten autonomous communities."
Regarding the device on the ground, he has stated that "the security group bore the greatest weight, the assigned police were present at the control of the advanced command post, and the health group fundamentally fell on 061, supported by the UME, Red Cross, and firefighters from the Zaragoza City Council," he referred. Likewise, he defended that "we are a model of coordination, we have received direct congratulations from the Minister of the Interior, and our CECOPIs are super operational," although he warned that "we must work on integration and professionalization" and "we will have to evolve in land and air means."
Assessment of the parliamentary groups
During the debate, the CHA parliamentarian Verónica Villagrasa emphasized that "our obligation is not only to thank for the work done, but to evaluate it rigorously," and recalled that "in Aragón we have specific plans for different risks," although she raised the question of "we wonder how they have worked when the time has come to apply them."
From the Popular Party, the deputy Lorena Tabanera pointed out that "the operation has worked perfectly, although there is room for improvement, which will be implemented in future campaigns." She also highlighted that "the coordination was up to par," and emphasized that "President Azcón announced a budget of more than fifty million euros for the next campaign."
On behalf of the PSOE, Óscar Galeano indicated that "it has been a complex summer" and, after acknowledging the "extraordinary work of all those who have contributed to mitigate the damage," he insisted that "it must also be evaluated how the organization of the team and the coordination between the different departments of the Government of Aragón worked."
From Vox, the deputy Lorena García thanked Clavero for "the work done this summer" because from her parliamentary group they consider that "it has been done in the best possible way with the existing means and with a situation in which our mountain currently finds itself."
Finally, the spokesperson for IU, Marta Abengochea, stated that "wildfires have become a civil protection emergency," and asked the general director "how these fires have mutated and why the behavior is becoming faster and more violent."