A fire in Polop (Alicante) forces the evacuation of homes and the closure of two roads

After a forest fire in the Valencian Community, the possible state declaration of a zone severely affected by a civil protection emergency (the former “catastrophic zone”) is based on a chain of local, regional, and state decisions. Below is a summary of the procedures and the typical “itinerary,” based on Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, and Valencian Law 13/2010, on Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

1. Basic competence framework

• At the state level, Law 17/2015 regulates the figure of the zone severely affected by a civil protection emergency and establishes that:
  • It is the Government who declares a zone as such, by agreement of the Council of Ministers.
  • The proposal corresponds to the Ministry of the Interior, which must assess the damages and the impact on the population and essential services (arts. 23 et seq., passages around positions 59,700 and 73,000 of the text: Law 17/2015).
• In the Valencian Community, Law 13/2010, on Civil Protection and Emergency Management assigns the Consell the superior direction in civil protection matters and, among other functions, the following:
  • Request the Minister of the Interior to declare a national interest emergency situation (art. 26236‑27269 of the text: Law 13/2010).
  • Establish cooperation lines with the General State Administration and municipalities.

2. Local phase: municipalities

Although the declaration of a severely affected zone is not a municipal competence, the procedure effectively begins at the local level, because damage data comes from the municipalities.

• Immediate emergency management: the municipality activates its municipal emergency plan and collaborates with the Generalitat in extinguishing and evacuations.
• Damage assessment and quantification:
  • Municipal technical services and, if applicable, provincial councils and Generalitat, inventory affected homes, infrastructures, agricultural holdings, and forests.
  • Damage reports and records are prepared with economic estimates and mapping.
• Agreement of the plenary or governing board:
  • The municipal body approves a motion or formal agreement requesting the declaration of a severely affected zone and urging the Generalitat to forward it to the State.
• Submission to the Generalitat:
  • The municipality sends the agreement and damage reports to the Valencian Agency for Security and Emergency Response and the department responsible for civil protection.

3. Regional phase: Generalitat Valenciana

Based on Law 13/2010 and Law 4/2017 creating the Valencian Agency for Security and Emergency Response (Law 4/2017), the usual steps are:

• Information gathering and verification:
  • The Agency integrates data from all affected municipalities and coordinates with departments of agriculture, environment, infrastructure, etc.
• Technical report and proposal:
  • A single regional report is prepared justifying that the conditions of Law 17/2015 are met: personal or material damages that severely disrupt living conditions or paralyze essential services.
  • The report proposes that the Consell request the state declaration of a severely affected zone.
• Consell agreement:
  • The Consell adopts a formal agreement urging the Ministry of the Interior to promote the declaration before the Council of Ministers.
  • The same agreement may request additional measures (agricultural, fiscal, labor) to be specified in a future royal decree-law of aid, following precedents such as Royal Decree-law 2/2019 or 11/2019 on fires and storms.
• Submission to the State:
  • The Generalitat sends the agreement and all documentation to the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Delegation in the Valencian Community.

4. State phase: declaration and effects

• Assessment by the Ministry of the Interior:
  • Analyzes the Generalitat's request, verifies damages with the Government Delegation and other ministries (Finance, Agriculture, Transport, etc.).
• Submission to the Council of Ministers:
  • The Ministry of the Interior submits a proposal; according to Law 17/2015, the Government is responsible for declaring the severely affected zone and approving the corresponding measures (aid to individuals, local corporations, tax benefits, labor and Social Security measures, agricultural and forestry aid, ICO lines, etc.).
• Publication in the BOE:
  • The declaration is usually formalized in a Council of Ministers agreement published by ministerial order or other instrument, and the measures in a specific royal decree-law of aid.
• Calls and aid applications:
  • Following that publication, deadlines open for municipalities and individuals to apply for aid, usually through the Government Delegation/Subdelegation, with standardized forms (as in orders TES/443/2022 or similar).

In summary, municipalities in the Valencian Community do not directly “request” the catastrophic zone from the Government of Spain, but channel the information and request through the Generalitat. The Consell, supported by the Valencian Agency for Security and Emergency Response, formally submits the request to the Ministry of the Interior, and it is the Council of Ministers who, based on those reports, decides and declares or not the zone severely affected by the civil protection emergency.

In Spanish legislation, the mayor is the primary civil protection authority in the municipal area and plays a key role in emergencies, including those caused by forest fires. Their competencies combine political and operational direction of municipal services, adoption of extraordinary measures to protect the population, and participation in planning and prevention.

1. General framework: local regime and civil protection

Law 7/1985, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, establishes the mayor as head of the municipal government and administration. From this position:

• Directs municipal services, including security, emergencies, fire prevention and extinction, and civil protection services when they exist.
• Can issue decrees and orders of a general nature in urgent situations to protect people and property.
• Represents the municipality before other administrations (autonomous community, State) and coordinates with them actions within their municipal area.

Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, defines civil protection as a multilateral public service (State, autonomous communities, and local entities), integrating municipal civil protection services and fire prevention and extinction and rescue services. Within this framework:

• Civil protection plans include territorial and local plans, in which the mayor is usually the directing authority for emergencies confined to their municipality.
• The system provides for cooperation and coordination among administrations, so the mayor directs the local response until the emergency requires regional or state escalation.

2. Powers in immediate emergency management

Based on Law 17/2015 and local legislation, the mayor has a set of especially strong powers when an emergency is declared:

• Local operational direction and coordination: directs municipal services (local police, technical services, municipal civil protection, social services, etc.) in executing the emergency plan.
• Mobilization of public and private resources: can require personal and material collaboration from citizens and companies in the municipality; civil protection law provides for the duty to collaborate and the possibility of temporary requisition of goods, temporary occupation, and suspension of activities, with the right to later compensation.
• Orders to the population: can issue binding orders and instructions (confinement, prohibition of access to dangerous areas, use of certain routes, etc.) within the framework of civil protection plans.
• Evacuations and access to homes: when the situation requires, can order evacuations and, according to the Organic Law on citizen security cited by Law 17/2015, facilitate entry into homes to safeguard people in danger.
• Request for external reinforcements: is the authority who, through the channels provided in the plans, requests intervention of regional and, if applicable, state means (including the Military Emergency Unit) when municipal means are insufficient.

3. Specific competencies related to forest fires

Law 43/2003, on Forests, amended by Law 21/2015 and Royal Decree-law 15/2022 on forest fires, recognizes a specific role for local entities. Among other obligations:

• Local entities exercise competencies over forests they own and collaborate with forest fire surveillance and extinction services.
• They must maintain an updated map of population centers and developments with relevant data for fire fighting (proximity to forest, access, hydrants, and water points), a basic tool for the mayor to organize evacuations and protection devices.
• Coordination between administrations in fire prevention and combat is foreseen, with the municipality as the first territorial level.

Additionally, state planning through the Basic Guideline and the State Civil Protection Plan for Forest Fire Emergencies is deployed in regional and municipal or local action plans, in which the mayor is usually expressly designated as emergency director within the municipal area, with powers to:

• Order and coordinate municipal extinction and support services.
• Establish safety perimeters, traffic cuts, and exclusion zones.
• Decide evacuations of neighborhoods, developments, or exposed facilities.
• Channel official information to the population and media.

4. Prevention and planning functions

Beyond immediate response, state legislation imposes on administrations the obligation to prevent and plan. At the municipal level, under the mayor's responsibility, this translates into:

• Promote the development and updating of municipal civil protection plans, including specific or action plans against forest fires when the risk exists.
• Promote local awareness and preventive information campaigns about forest fire risks, prohibitions, and self-protection behaviors.
• Integrate fire prevention into urban and municipal forest planning, collaborating with the autonomous community.
• Encourage self-protection of developments, industrial facilities, and other risk activities in the municipal area.

In summary, the mayor is the reference authority in the municipality regarding forest fires: directs the local response, can adopt exceptional measures over people and property, coordinates with the autonomous community and the State, and is responsible for ensuring the municipality has minimum planning and means for prevention and action.

The use of aerial means in forest fire extinction in Spain is not regulated by a single law, but by a set of forestry, civil protection, and civil aviation regulations, along with state emergency plans. At the state level, several normative pillars stand out.

1. Basic forestry legislation

The reference framework is Law 43/2003, of November 21, on Forests (text in BOE), subsequently amended. The law:

• Defines the concept of forest fire and strengthens obligations for prevention and restoration of burned lands.
• Provides for the designation of high fire risk zones with their defense plans.
• Assigns the State the setting of common guidelines on extinction training and on the standardization of material means and equipment for extinction personnel, as well as the deployment of state support means to autonomous communities.

Although it does not detail technical aspects of helicopters or planes, it establishes the competence basis and coordination framework on which aerial means rely.

More recently, Royal Decree-law 15/2022, of August 1, adopting urgent measures on forest fires (BOE link) reinforces this framework. Its preamble highlights the existence of a “broad operational device, mainly dedicated to extinction, formed by specialized ground and aerial units” and emphasizes:

• Strengthening action throughout the year, not only during the campaign.
• Enhancing inter-administrative cooperation and coordination of devices, which include aerial means.

2. Civil protection and emergency plans

In the civil protection field, key instruments are:

• The Resolution of October 31, 2014, publishing the State Civil Protection Plan for Forest Fire Emergencies (BOE-A-2014-11493).
• Royal Decree 893/2013, of November 15, approving the Basic Guideline for Civil Protection Planning of Forest Fire Emergencies (BOE-A-2013-12823), partially updated by the 2023 Basic Civil Protection Standard.

The State Plan creates an inventory of state-owned extinction means and resources (aerial and ground) used to support autonomous communities. It details, among other aspects:

• The types of means: amphibious planes, ground-loading planes, transport and extinction helicopters, extinction helicopters, coordination aircraft, helitroop brigades, etc.
• Their capacity (transportable personnel, liters of water, etc.), responsible body, location, and temporal availability.
• The role of the Single Extinction Command, which channels instructions to state aerial means and Armed Forces involved in a fire of national interest.

The 2013 Basic Guideline, in turn, defines the concept of extraordinary means and expressly includes state and military aerial means as mobilizable and coordinated resources through the State Plan.

3. Specific aeronautical regulations

The central instrument is Royal Decree 750/2014, of September 5, regulating aerial activities for fire fighting and search and rescue (BOE-A-2014-9484), with corrections and later modifications.

This royal decree:

• Establishes technical standards for airworthiness, pilot licenses, organization of aerial operations, and operational rules for fire fighting and search and rescue activities.
• Approves, as annexes, standards on airworthiness, pilot authorization, operations organization, and specific aerial operations for these activities.
• Requires that fire fighting activities be carried out with certified operators and aircraft according to these annexes (with specific rules for foreign aircraft and operators in emergencies).
• Explicitly excludes UAS/drones, referring their regime to specific unmanned aircraft systems regulations.

4. Other relevant instruments

• Royal Decree 3447/2000, of December 22 (BOE-A-2001-936): allows compatibility of reserve status of Armed Forces aircraft crew and maintenance technicians with temporary actions using aerial means in disasters and emergencies, facilitating their participation in fire campaigns.
• Royal Decree 399/2007 and Royal Decree 1097/2011: approve and develop the intervention protocol of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) (BOE-A-2007-10869, BOE-A-2011-12869), which includes the use of military aerial means in forest fires.
• International agreements, such as the Spain–France Agreement on the use of aerial extinction means in mutual assistance for forest fires (BOE-A-2017-2623), regulating cross-border cooperation with planes and helicopters.

All this is complemented by regional forest fire regulations, special civil protection plans of each community, and general air safety rules. Together, they form the applicable regime for the use of aerial means in forest fire extinction in Spain.