Third heatwave in Barcelona and Catalonia: when it starts and why Wednesday and Thursday will be the worst days

In Catalonia, heat waves are managed within the general civil protection system, not through an isolated “declaration,” but through the activation of civil protection plans (territorial or special) when technical services confirm that the anticipated risk conditions are met. According to the consulted regulations, the formal activation of a plan always corresponds to the director of the plan itself, under the authority of the civil protection authorities of the Generalitat. In practice, depending on the severity of the episode, special plans (such as INFOCAT for forest fires) may be activated, and the plan's direction may shift to the autonomous level if the emergency reaches the interest of Catalonia.

Basic legal framework of civil protection in Catalonia

The central reference is the Llei 4/1997, de protecció civil de Catalunya, which defines the civil protection system, the types of plans (territorial, special, and self-protection), and who holds authority in emergencies. The consolidated text can be consulted at the Catalonia Legal Portal.

This law establishes that:

• The Government of the Generalitat is the highest collegiate body for the direction and coordination of civil protection in Catalonia, responsible for approving the Civil Protection Plan of Catalonia and the special plans (art. 42 of Llei 4/1997).
• Civil protection authorities include the mayor (municipal level) and the minister responsible for civil protection (Catalonia level), who are also directors of the plans within their scope (art. 40).
• The various departments of the Generalitat must handle risk prevention, assessment, and forecasting within their scope (art. 41), which includes adverse meteorological phenomena such as heat waves.

At the state level, the Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System and the Basic Civil Protection Standard (Royal Decree 524/2023) frame the special plans against adverse meteorological phenomena, a category that includes heat waves. Each autonomous community must approve its own plans within this framework.

Who “declares” the heat wave and how the plan is activated

The analyzed regulations do not specify a particular formula for an “official heat wave declaration,” but rather a general scheme applicable to any risk:

• The technical services of the Generalitat (departments with competencies in meteorology, health, environment, etc., under art. 41 of Llei 4/1997) are responsible for monitoring and risk assessment, including episodes of extreme temperatures.
• When it is confirmed that the “events contained in a civil protection plan” occur, the plan director “must formally declare the activation” (art. 27 of Llei 4/1997). The law does not detail specific temperature thresholds but refers to the plan itself.
• From the moment the plan is activated, the planned measures must be adopted: issuing warnings, constituting the emergency committee, mobilizing action groups, communicating with CECAT, and notifying the population (art. 27.3).
• If the emergency exceeds the capacity of the activated plan or requires direction at the Catalonia level, the authority of the higher-level plan can declare the emergency of “interest to Catalonia” (art. 29), assuming direction and coordinating other administrations. This declaration corresponds to the minister responsible for civil protection.

Llei 4/1997 does not explicitly detail phases such as “pre-alert, alert, emergency” for heat waves, but it does establish that each civil protection plan must define its activation procedures and response levels. Therefore, the specific gradation of phases depends on the content of the special or territorial plan applied.

Organizations involved and the role of INFOCAT and other plans

In Catalonia, the institutional architecture of civil protection is organized as follows:

• Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia: a collegiate advisory body, coordinator, and approver of plans, regulated by Decree 291/1999 and modified by Decree 87/2017. It informs and approves civil protection plans of the Generalitat and municipalities and evaluates their functioning.
• Department of the Interior (or the current department responsible for civil protection): houses the competent general directorate in civil protection and the operational coordination center, which receives plan activation communications (art. 27.3.d of Llei 4/1997).
• Municipalities: mayors are civil protection authorities at the municipal level and can activate municipal plans; in municipalities without a plan, they can declare an emergency situation and adopt basic measures (art. 10.3 and reference to local legislation).

INFOCAT is one of the special civil protection plans of Catalonia (within art. 42 of Llei 4/1997), and its activation follows the same legal scheme: decision by the plan director, communication to the coordination center, and adoption of planned measures. During heat wave episodes, INFOCAT can be activated if the increased risk of forest fires requires it, while other plans (territorial or sectoral) cover the health and social aspects of extreme heat.

At the state level, the preventive management of health effects from high temperatures is articulated through the National Plan of Preventive Actions for the Effects of Excess Temperatures on Health, whose interministerial commission was created by Order PRE/1518/2004, modified by Order PRE/2262/2005. This plan coordinates with autonomous communities, including Catalonia, but does not alter the autonomous competencies for activating civil protection plans.

Emergency management for extreme meteorological phenomena in Catalonia is supported by the civil protection system defined by the Llei 4/1997 de protecció civil, complemented by the Llei 15/2001 de meteorologia and the state framework of the Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System. The Generalitat assumes functions of forecasting, prevention, planning, intervention, public information, and recovery through the Government, the responsible civil protection department, the Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia, and the Operational Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT). Phenomena such as floods, episodes of strong wind, heat waves, or snowfalls are addressed through territorial plans and especially through “special plans” of civil protection. The Directorate General of Civil Protection is part of this structure, although its specific organizational details are set by regulation and are not included in the consulted extracts.

Basic regulatory framework

The competencies of the Generalitat in civil protection are generally regulated in the Llei 4/1997, which defines civil protection as the set of actions to protect people, property, and the environment against situations of serious collective risk, catastrophe, or public calamity, including those caused by natural elements. The tax development of the system is specified in Decree 160/1998.

This autonomous regulation is coordinated with the state framework of Law 17/2015, which sets the actions of the national system (risk forecasting, planning, operational response, and recovery measures) and reserves the State for emergencies declared of national interest, whose interpretation is influenced by STC 58/2017 and STC 168/2004, as well as the prior appeal [appeal 3726/1997]. The former 1985 state law remains only as a historical reference ([Law 2/1985]).

Forecasting and early warning

Regarding extreme meteorological phenomena, forecasting relies on the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya regulated by Llei 15/2001. Its article 12 obliges Generalitat bodies to request from the Service the necessary information for their emergency and civil protection competencies and to use it in territorial planning, urbanism, public works, agriculture, or environment. Additionally, the law creates the Xarxa d’Equipaments Meteorològics (XEMEC), which measures variables and detects meteorological phenomena to, among other purposes, “forecast meteorological risks” (arts. 13 and 14).

This meteorological infrastructure is, therefore, the technical support for civil protection alerts for torrential rains, floods, snowfalls, wind, or heat waves. The information is integrated into the Catalan civil protection system and the meteorological database of Catalonia.

Prevention and planning (territorial and special plans)

The Llei 4/1997 distinguishes between forecasting, prevention, and planning:

• Forecasting: preparation of the Civil Protection Map of Catalonia (art. 12), which identifies zones exposed to each risk, including hydrometeorological ones. The Department of Governance must review it periodically and inform the Parliament.
• Prevention: urbanistic, territorial, and sectoral legislation must incorporate civil protection needs (art. 14), including risk reduction measures against floods or forest fires. The Civil Protection Commission issues prior reports on these normative projects.
• Planning: territorial plans and “special plans” are foreseen (arts. 15–18). Special plans are declared of interest to Catalonia and apply, among others, to flood and forest fire risks (art. 18.2). Municipalities must adapt their municipal action plans to the special plans when within their scope.

The Civil Protection Plan of Catalonia, approved by the Government at the proposal of the responsible minister (art. 16), integrates all territorial and special plans, establishes the resource catalog, and sets protocols of action and basic recovery guidelines.

Direction, operational coordination, and CECAT

Llei 4/1997 configures the organizational structure of civil protection. The Government is the highest collegiate body for direction and coordination (art. 42), and the responsible minister is the highest civil protection authority (art. 43), with powers to:

• Declare activation and deactivation of civil protection plans at the Catalonia level and, subsidiarily, municipal and self-protection plans.
• Direct and coordinate all services, means, and resources assigned to the activated plan.
• Exercise the superior direction of the Operational Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT), defined in art. 45 as the highest coordination and information center of the civil protection structure.

The Department of Governance (today Interior in institutional practice) is responsible for programming in civil protection (art. 44) and coordinates the bodies dependent on it, where the Directorate General of Civil Protection is included, although its detail does not appear in the consulted provisions.

Public information and recovery phase

In emergencies, public and private media are obliged to collaborate with civil protection authorities, transmitting official warnings and instructions in a prioritized, immediate, and free manner (art. 11 of Llei 4/1997). The activation of a plan entails specific warnings to the population and communication of the activation to CECAT, which centralizes the information.

Once the acute phase is overcome, the law foresees a recovery plan and the possible creation of a recovery commission to coordinate aid and investments, guiding the restoration of infrastructures and services to reduce future risk. This logic has also been used to manage aid after floods or forest fires, for example through orders such as ORDRE PRE/130/2023 or state labor and social security regulations applied in affected areas (Order TES/443/2022, TES/1223/2021, ISM/707/2021).

Other related regulations

There are numerous sectoral regulations indirectly linked to the management of meteorological and flood risks: the Catalan Climate Change Law (with modifications in Law 3/2023 and Decree-law 18/2020, and connection with Law 5/2017), Decree-law 17/2025 on flood risk in campgrounds, the Consolidated Text of the Urban Planning Law, Decree 53/2022 and the previous Decree 62/2010 on the Cartographic Plan, as well as extraordinary drought measures (Decree-law 5/2024) or fires and floods (Decree 276/2016). At the general state level, the National Civil Protection Strategy, the state forest fire plan ([State Forest Fire Plan]), and training and professional regulations (RD 907/2013, RD 1085/2020, RD 624/2013, RD 1031/2011) can be cited. Other texts found in searches, such as Lei 2/2014, the General Territorial Plan, Order ECF/119/2025, Decree 91/2023, Decree 127/2020, ORDER ECF/56/2007, as well as academic resolutions from UOC and other universities ([education master], [translation degree], [telecom master], [ancient Mediterranean master], [telecom study plan]) or appeal 1880-2016, do not add specific details about the operational functions of Protecció Civil in meteorological phenomena beyond framing competencies or sectoral aspects.

In Catalonia, the Pla Alfa is the operational procedure of the Cos d’Agents Rurals that classifies forest fire danger and serves as the basis for restricting activities. The strictest restrictions occur at levels 3 (very high danger) and 4 (extreme danger), when agricultural and forestry work can be suspended, access to natural spaces limited, and outdoor leisure activities canceled. The activation of these levels is decided by Interior (Agents Rurals) based on the danger map prepared by Climate Action, and Civil Protection can add additional suspensions via the INFOCAT Plan. All this is then formalized in resolutions and public notes from the Generalitat and disseminated through the daily Pla Alfa map.

Who decides and by what criteria

According to official notes from the Generalitat, the Pla Alfa is “the operational procedure established by the Cos d’Agents Rurals” to monitor, prevent, and control activities with fire risk, with five levels from 0 to 4, adapted to the climate emergency (2024 forest campaign, Terres de l’Ebre, 2025 campaign, 2026 campaign).

The Agents Rurals activate the level daily in each municipality based on the fire danger map prepared by the Fire Danger Analysis Service of the Department of Climate Action (see also the general explanation on the official Pla Alfa website: [link], [link]). When the danger is very high or extreme, Civil Protection activates in parallel the INFOCAT Plan in alert or emergency phase, which allows suspending or conditioning additional activities around natural spaces (note 29/07/2024, note 09/08/2024, heat wave 2025, coordination meeting).

What can be restricted at each level

Levels 0–2: the risk is low, moderate, or high. Official notes mainly mention surveillance measures and the need for authorizations or prior communications for burns and certain works, but no automatic suspensions. The detail is articulated through Catalan forestry regulations, including the Llei 6/1988 forestal and other sectoral provisions.

Level 3 (very high danger): here the strict restrictions begin. In several communications (for example, 29/07/2024, 26/07/2025, 02/08/2025, 17/08/2025) Interior summarizes the effects as follows:

• All activities with fire risk previously authorized or communicated to the Department of Climate Action (or Agriculture, depending on the current name) are suspended.
• Activities such as lighting fires in open spaces, using pyrotechnic material, and other practices that may generate sparks are expressly prohibited.
• No activity with risk can be carried out in forest lands or within the 500-meter strip surrounding them.
• The Agents Rurals conduct “exclusive surveillance” of compliance with these suspensions and prohibitions.

Level 4 (extreme danger): this is the highest level and allows restrictions on mobility and access:

• Access is restricted, on foot or by vehicle, to certain natural forested spaces (Montsant, Baronia de Rialb, Ribera Salada, Cardó-Boix, Tivissa-Vandellòs, etc., depending on each episode). The restriction usually excepts residents and justified unavoidable activities.
• Outdoor leisure activities are suspended: camping, routes and sports routes, camps and campuses that cannot be moved to urban centers or inside buildings (note 09/08/2024).
• Motorized access to forest tracks is limited or suspended, and road and slope works can be stopped, except for specific authorizations from the Catalan Traffic Service with approval from Agents Rurals.
• The Agents Rurals dedicate all their personnel to fire prevention and access control in closed spaces.

In these scenarios, the Pla Alfa maps and Civil Protection information are also used by municipalities (for example, Barcelona activates its own municipal plan when Pla Alfa reaches level 3 in Barcelonès: [link]). The newspaper Demócrata has covered in several pieces how these restrictions have been applied in recent fire and heat wave episodes (Les Gavarres stabilized, confinements in Gavarres, Les Gavarres closure, closure and confinements, parliamentary debate, active fires).

Publicity and how to know what applies at each moment

Restrictions are only enforceable if they have been formally activated and communicated by the Generalitat. This is done through:

• The daily publication of the Pla Alfa map by municipality (consultable, among others, through divulgative resources such as [Pla Alfa map] or summaries like [level explanation]).
• Specific press releases listing municipalities at levels 3 and 4 and describing the measures in detail (29/07/2024, 26/07/2025, 16/08/2025, 17/08/2025).

In summary, to restrict activities due to fire risk in Catalonia, the following must concur: a high danger level determined technically (levels 3 or 4 of Pla Alfa), formal activation by Interior/Agents Rurals, and, when appropriate, activation of INFOCAT by Civil Protection, with clear public dissemination of measures and specific territorial delimitation.

Other normative and contextual links mentioned in the research, which complete the general framework (fires, forest management, civil protection, environmental taxation, training, etc.): Law 3/2019, Decree-law 21/2025, Decree-law 19/2025, Law 5/2020, Decree-law 16/2019, Law 25/2003, Llei 5/2003, Decree 312/2006, prevention culture, harvest work, as well as various context pieces from Demócrata on fires, forest management, and climate policy (forest strategy, forest law reform, current fire situation).