Madrid considers the fires in the Sierra Oeste to be under control while Castilla y León activates aid for the evacuees from Ávila.

To approve extraordinary aid after a natural disaster in Castilla y León, there is not a single parliamentary procedure but several possible routes. If the budget already includes expandable credits or specific emergency allocations, the Junta can deploy aid without the Cortes having to approve a new law, limiting themselves to controlling budget execution. When it is necessary to enable new resources, budget modifications are used (transfers, increases, extraordinary credits, or credit supplements) with varying degrees of parliamentary intervention. In cases of utmost urgency, the Junta can use the regional decree-law, which must be ratified by the Cortes of Castilla y León within a short period.

Material framework: citizen protection and aid

The general framework for emergencies and civil protection is set out in the Law 4/2007 on Citizen Protection, amended by Law 2/2019 and partially by Law 4/2024 on tax, financial and administrative measures. This regulation establishes the citizen protection system against emergencies but does not detail a specific parliamentary procedure for each aid: it refers to budgetary regulations and the regulatory power of the Junta.

In practice, many aids are implemented through regulatory base orders issued by the competent ministries, such as subsidies for the February 2026 floods to companies and workers (orders IEM/224/2026 and IEM/211/2026). In these cases, the fundamental parliamentary “filter” is the budget law itself that contains or allows enabling the credits.

Budgetary instruments and the role of the Cortes

The regional Treasury regime is established by Law 2/2006 on Treasury and the Public Sector, amended by Law 8/2019 and Law 1/2023. This law provides for:

• Ordinary credit modifications (transfers, generations, reductions, increases), authorized by the Junta or the Treasury ministry, with mere information to the Cortes.
• Extraordinary credits and credit supplements: when an unavoidable expense lacks adequate credit or it is insufficient and not expandable. If it cannot be covered by ordinary modifications, the Treasury Ministry must submit a bill to the Junta, which forwards it to the Cortes for approval. Law 2/2006 itself provides that “the remaining credit supplements or extraordinary credits (…) must be approved by the Cortes of Castilla y León.”

The annual budget laws, such as Law 3/2022 on Budgets 2023 or Law 2/2021 on Budgets 2021, develop this scheme. They regulate credit modifications and designate certain credits as expandable. Very importantly, Law 3/2022 declares expandable the credits “intended for the payment of exceptional actions caused by natural disasters, severe economic recession or extraordinary emergency situations, which must be expressly declared as such by decree of the Junta of Castilla y León.” This allows rapid financing of extraordinary aid without a new law, provided the expandable allocation exists.

Urgency route: regional decree-law

Castilla y León has a regional decree-law, similar to the state decree-law. The Junta has used it, for example, in decree-laws 1/2018 and 2/2018, or in Decree-law 8/2020. The parliamentary procedure is:

• The Junta approves the decree-law by “extraordinary and urgent necessity.”
• It is published and comes into force. If it regulates aid or enables expenditure, it can provide for them immediately.
• The Cortes must hold a ratification debate in Plenary, where they can ratify it, repeal it, or agree to process it as a bill to introduce amendments (as reflected in the ratification resolutions of 2018 and 2020: [link], [link]).

If extraordinary aid were set by decree-law (for example, after a DANA or a large fire), the key parliamentary control would be precisely that ratification.

Ordinary legislative procedure in the Cortes

When the Junta opts for a bill (for example, a specific aid law or a law on extraordinary credits), the Cortes of Castilla y León follow a scheme similar to that of the General Cortes:

• Presentation of the bill by the regional government.
• Qualification and admission for processing by the Board, and publication.
• Opening of amendment period (to the whole, if applicable, and to the articles).
• General debate in Plenary (if there are total amendments).
• Processing in committee: report, amendments, and opinion.
• Final debate and vote in Plenary, approval and publication in the BOCYL.

This procedure is more guaranteeing but less agile than the decree-law or the use of expandable credits. Therefore, in severe natural disasters, it is usually combined: emergency declaration and aid via budgets and regulations; and, if necessary, law on extraordinary credits or even decree-law later subject to parliamentary control.

Other connected regulations

At the state level, the general framework for emergencies and catastrophic aid is set by Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System, its regulatory development, and royal decree-laws on aid such as Royal Decree-law 10/2021 (Filomena), as well as orders like TES/1223/2021. Although they are state-level, they condition and complement regional measures. There are also multiple state and regional financial and budgetary regulations (for example, state budget laws 2014, 2012, 2011, Order HFP/147/2022, or extraordinary credit grants by RDL 6/2015), which serve as technical references, although the concrete detail falls on the Castilla y León regulations already cited.

Other regional laws such as the Third Social Sector law (Law 5/2021) or sectoral regulations (such as subsidy orders on fires MAV/1109/2022 and MAV/441/2022) complete the framework, but the “core” of parliamentary procedures for extraordinary aid lies in the combination of treasury law, budget laws, and, if applicable, regional decree-law ratified by the Cortes.

The President of the Community of Madrid has, in civil protection and emergencies, a role of political leadership and highest representation: he does not operationally manage the services (this falls to the competent Ministry and the Madrid 112 Agency), but he directs the Government that approves regional plans, coordinates the response of the regional Administration, and liaises with the State in major disasters. These functions are supported by the Statute of Autonomy and, more specifically, by Law 5/2023 of the Integrated Civil Protection and Emergency System of the Community of Madrid. Additionally, the basic state legislation (Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System and the new Basic Civil Protection Standard of 2023) frames this action within a coordinated state system. Below are its main competencies systematically detailed.

1. Basic normative framework

The president's competencies are mainly supported by:

• Statute of Autonomy of the Community of Madrid, approved by Organic Law 3/1983 and amended, among others, by Organic Law 10/1994 and Organic Law 2/1991.
• Law 5/2023, of March 22, creating the Integrated Civil Protection and Emergency System of the Community of Madrid, published in the BOE (Law 5/2023 in BOE) and in the BOCM (publication in BOCM), modified in some provisions by Law 16/2023.
• Law 17/2015, of July 9, of the National Civil Protection System (Law 17/2015), and the Basic Civil Protection Standard, approved by Royal Decree 524/2023, which set the general coordination framework between State and autonomous communities.

2. General competencies of the president according to the Statute

The Statute establishes that the President of the Community of Madrid:

• Holds the supreme representation of the Autonomous Community and the ordinary representation of the State within it.
• Presides over and directs the activity of the Government of the Community of Madrid.
• Appoints and removes vice presidents and ministers and coordinates the Administration.
• Is politically responsible before the Assembly of Madrid.

Applied to civil protection, this means the president is the highest political authority responsible for the organization and functioning of the regional civil protection and emergency system, mainly through the competent Ministry and the Madrid 112 Security and Emergency Agency.

3. Specific functions in civil protection and emergencies (Law 5/2023)

3.1. Relationship with the State in major disasters

Law 5/2023 specifies two key competencies of the presidency when an emergency exceeds the regional scope:

• Request for declaration of national interest emergency:

  When an emergency, due to its nature, magnitude, or extent, exceeds the response capabilities of the Community of Madrid, the presidency, at the proposal of the head of the competent Ministry in civil protection and emergencies, can request the Government of Spain, through the Ministry of the Interior, to declare the emergency of national interest.

• Request for delegation of direction in states of alarm or supra-community emergencies:

  In case of disaster or calamity declared by the Government of Spain of supra-community interest, or when the state of alarm is declared, the presidency of the Community of Madrid can request the Government of the Nation to delegate the direction and coordination of emergency actions at the regional level, in accordance with national legislation (Law 17/2015 and state of alarm regulations).

3.2. Direction of the regional system and approval of plans

Although Law 5/2023 does not directly attribute to the president the signing of civil protection plans, it establishes that:

• The Territorial Civil Protection Plan of the Community of Madrid (PLATERCAM) is approved by Agreement of the Council of Government, which the president chairs (PLATERCAM approval agreement).
• Special plans for civil protection (floods, winter weather, etc.) are also approved by Agreement of the Council of Government, as shown by the Special Plan for Flood Risk (INUNCAM) or the Special Plan for Winter Weather.

In practice, this places the president as the highest political authority responsible for approving regional civil protection planning, by directing and coordinating the body that adopts these agreements (the Council of Government).

3.3. Inter-administrative coordination and political command

Law 5/2023 creates the Integrated Civil Protection and Emergency System and the Madrid 112 Security and Emergency Agency, which exercises the operational management and direction functions of the system. The Agency is attached to the competent Ministry and its statute is approved by decree of the Council of Government.

The presidency, by directing the Government and coordinating the Administration, consequently assumes:

• Political coordination of all ministries and entities involved in civil protection.
• Political supervision of the functioning of the Madrid 112 Agency and the integration of services such as firefighters, SUMMA 112, local police, and volunteers.
• Participation, through the Community of Madrid, in interterritorial cooperation mechanisms and in the National Civil Protection System defined by Law 17/2015 and Royal Decree 524/2023.

4. Other regulations cited in the Madrid framework

In the normative ecosystem of emergencies in the Community of Madrid, there also appear Law 2/2014, Law 4/2000, Law 11/1998, Law 9/2019, Law 10/2022, Law 9/2015, Law 7/1990, as well as the statutory regulations of the Autonomous University or the Decree on Radio Televisión Madrid, among others. Although they do not directly define the president's powers in civil protection, they are part of the institutional and competency context in which these are exercised.

In summary, the President of the Community of Madrid is the highest political authority of the regional civil protection system: he directs the Government that plans and organizes the services, coordinates the regional institutional response, and acts as interlocutor with the State for the declaration and management of major emergencies or exceptional states, within the framework set by Law 5/2023 and basic state legislation.

In Castilla y León, families affected by fires access several layers of aid: regional aid from the Junta (especially for evacuated families, housing damage, and the agricultural sector) and state aid linked to the declaration of “zone severely affected by a civil protection emergency.” In all cases, basic requirements are demanded: that the fire is officially recognized, that the home or person is located in the municipalities/localities declared affected, that damages are accredited, and that applications are submitted within the deadline. For agricultural infrastructures and livestock farms, additional specific requirements are requested such as being the holder of the farm and being registered in the PAC. There is not yet a single regional law on “aid to families for fires,” but rather a mosaic of decrees, orders, and specific calls.

1. Regulatory framework and types of aid

At the regional level, the main recent framework is the Junta Agreement of August 20, 2025, on the recovery of areas affected by the large fires of that summer, developed by Order MAV/945/2025, which sets the list of evacuated localities “for the purposes of granting the aids provided in the Agreement.” That is, being on that list is a key territorial requirement.

Additionally, the Junta has regulated sectoral aids:

• Self-employed and SMEs in affected municipalities: regulatory bases in Order EYH/1019/2022 (direct aid for activity interruption).
• Restoration of forest damage (not so much for families as such, but for forest holders): Order FYM/85/2017 and its amendment by Order FYM/302/2019.
• Agricultural, livestock, and beekeeping infrastructures damaged, as reported by Demócrata when disseminating the Junta's aid form in 2025 (news about aid form).

In parallel, the central Government, by declaring zones as “severely affected” (a figure explained in this Demócrata analysis), activates the aids of Law 17/2015 on Civil Protection and the royal decree-laws that set amounts and conditions. A recent package, described by Demócrata, provides for example up to €12,600 per destroyed main residence, €8,600 for structural damage, €4,300 for other damages, and €2,150 for loss of household goods (state aid package).

2. Requirements for evacuated families and housing damage

a) Territorial scope and official recognition

For regional aids linked to the large fires of 2025, Order MAV/945/2025 establishes that only persons residing in evacuated municipalities/localities listed in its annex (dozens of localities in Ávila, León, Palencia, Salamanca, and Zamora) are beneficiaries. Inclusion in that list is a prior requirement for “granting the aids provided in the Agreement of the Junta of Castilla y León, of August 20, 2025.”

At the state level, it is essential that the territory has been declared a “zone severely affected by a civil protection emergency,” a decision the Government announced for fires affecting Madrid, Ávila, and Castilla y León (Sánchez announcement and subsequent development in the Interior Ministry note on 114 serious fires: Interior note).

b) Condition as affected family

• Being a family evacuated due to the fires in a declared affected municipality, to receive the €500 aid per family (Junta of Castilla y León).
• For aid for housing and household goods damage: that it is the habitual residence, located in a declared affected area, with accredited material damage (criteria similar to those of the state aids of Law 17/2015, described in the same Demócrata piece).
• In the case of state aids, being the owner, tenant, or habitual resident in the damaged home and not having been fully compensated by insurance or other indemnities (this is inferred from the general scheme explained in Demócrata's information on the declaration of severely affected zone: explanation of the figure).

c) Accreditation of damages

The regional bases for the agricultural sector offer a clear reference of what is also requested from families and farms. In aids for agricultural infrastructures damaged by fires, the Junta requires:

• That the affected installations were previously in use and duly registered.
• Providing invoices for repairs made.
• Keeping georeferenced photographs of the damages for subsequent checks (Demócrata detail).

It is reasonable to assume —and this is pointed out by the Interior and Agriculture notes on state aids for 2025 fires— that similar documentation criteria (budgets, technical reports, photos, municipal certificates) apply to homes and family goods, although the available sources do not reproduce the full wording of each call. No further information is available in the consulted sources.

3. Specific requirements for farmers, ranchers, and family SMEs

Many rural families in Castilla y León access aid not only as households but as holders of farms or businesses. Recent calls include requirements such as:

• Being holder of an agricultural, livestock, or beekeeping farm affected and having submitted the 2025 PAC single application, in the case of aids for infrastructures damaged by the 2025 fires (call disseminated by Demócrata).
• That the farm is in municipalities recognized as affected by the large fires, according to the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Planning.
• For self-employed and SMEs, carrying out the activity in municipalities declared affected by the fires (bases of Order EYH/1019/2022 and its error correction).

4. Processing and general administrative conditions

The various applicable subsidy regulations (state Law 38/2003 and Castilla y León Subsidies Law 5/2008, expressly cited in Order EYH/1019/2022 and Order FYM/85/2017) imply common requirements:

• Submitting the application (often by responsible declaration) within the deadline set in each call.
• Being up to date with tax and Social Security obligations.
• Not being subject to prohibitions to be a subsidy beneficiary (sanctions, incompatibilities, etc.).
• Accepting controls and reimbursements in case of undue payment or double financing (by insurance or incompatible aids).

In summary, for a family in Castilla y León, access to aid for fires will depend on three basic filters: that their municipality/locality is officially included in the affected zone declarations, that they can solidly prove the damage suffered (in the home or family economic activity), and that they meet the general requirements of any public subsidy.