Map of fires in Spain today, August 17: Huesca concentrates the greatest emergency while Niebla stabilizes.

The management of large forest fires in Spain relies, on the one hand, on the parliamentary procedures that give rise to the basic state regulatory framework and, on the other, on a distribution of regional competencies (and local) in forests and civil protection.

1. Relevant parliamentary procedures

The state regulations governing forests, civil protection, and emergencies (for example, the Law 43/2003, on Forests, the Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, or the Royal Decree-Law 15/2022, on forest fires) are approved essentially following the ordinary legislative procedure in the Cortes Generales:

• Initiative: it can be a government bill (for example, a reform of the Forest Law) or a private member's bill from groups in the Congress or Senate, regional assemblies, or popular legislative initiative.
• Consideration: only for private member's bills. The Plenary of the Congress decides whether to admit them for processing.
• Assignment to the competent committee (generally Agriculture/Ecological Transition, Interior, or similar), which creates a subcommittee to study the text.
• Amendment phase:
  • Amendments to the entirety (to return or replace the text).
  • Amendments to the articles (to adjust the regime of prevention, extinction, coordination, sanctions, etc.).
• Debate and report in committee: the balance between state competencies (foundations, coordination) and regional competencies (direct management) is negotiated, and a report is approved.
• Debate and vote in the Plenary of the Congress: the Plenary discusses the report and the maintained amendments and approves the text.
• Referral to the Senate: the Senate can approve, amend, or veto. Its amendments or veto return to the Congress, which has the final say.
• Sanction, promulgation, and publication in the BOE, after which the law comes into force.

In urgent situations, such as waves of large fires, the Government can approve royal decree-laws (paradigmatic example: Royal Decree-Law 15/2022), which are norms with the force of law approved by the Council of Ministers and which the Congress must validate or repeal within 30 days. The Congress can also agree to process them as bills to introduce amendments more calmly.

2. Constitutional framework and basic laws

The distribution of competencies is based on the Constitution:

• Article 148.1.8ª CE: allows autonomous communities to assume competencies in forests and forest uses.
• Article 149.1.23ª CE: reserves to the State the competence over the bases of environmental protection, which includes basic forest legislation.
• Article 149.1.29ª CE: attributes to the State the competence over public security, the basis of civil protection of national interest.

On this constitutional basis, the main state regulations are:

• Law 43/2003, on Forests, and its reforms (especially Law 21/2015 and Royal Decree-Law 15/2022):
  • Declares that autonomous communities are responsible and competent in forestry matters, including prevention and extinction of fires.
  • Reserves to the State the basic legislation on forests, forest uses, and environment (art. 149.1.23ª CE), setting common principles (sustainable management, limitations on land use changes after fires, sanctioning regime, etc.).
  • Strengthens inter-administrative coordination and societal participation in fire prevention.
• Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System:
  • Conceptualizes civil protection as part of public security and designs the National Civil Protection System as a “minimum national model.”
  • Recognizes regional and local competencies in civil protection but attributes to the State:
    • The definition of the bases and basic rules of the system.
    • The declaration of emergencies of national interest and their direction by the Government.
    • General coordination (National Civil Protection Council, state plans, etc.).
• Basic Civil Protection Standard, approved by Royal Decree 524/2023 (partially repealing previous guidelines such as the specific one on forest fires), which:
  • Sets common planning and coordination criteria.
  • Obliges autonomous communities and local entities to approve territorial and special plans, including the forest fire plan.
• State Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires (Resolution of October 31, 2014), which articulates the state response and its support to regional plans.
• Royal Decree-Law 15/2022, which strengthens preventive obligations (fuel management, planning, land use) and coordination in light of extreme fires.

3. Regional and local competencies

According to the Constitution, the Forest Law, and Law 17/2015:

• Autonomous communities have ordinary management of forests and forest uses, organization of prevention and extinction devices, approval of special civil protection plans for forest fires, and direction of emergencies as long as they are not of national interest.
• The State acts by setting common bases, coordinating when the emergency exceeds one community or is declared of national interest, and providing its own resources (e.g., Military Emergency Unit, state aerial means).
• Local entities, according to the Law Regulating the Bases of Local Regime (cited in Royal Decree-Law 15/2022), exercise their own competencies in prevention and extinction within their municipal area, collaborate in planning, and may have municipal civil protection services.

In summary, Parliament sets the common basic rules through laws and, where appropriate, royal decree-laws, while the operational management and much of the planning of forest fires correspond to autonomous communities and municipalities, within a national civil protection system coordinated by the State.

The Military Emergency Unit (UME) is a joint force of the Spanish Armed Forces, permanent in nature, whose mission is to intervene in situations of serious risk, catastrophe, or public calamity anywhere in the national territory. In emergencies such as forest fires, it acts as an extraordinary reinforcement unit within the National Civil Protection System when the magnitude of the fire exceeds the ordinary capacity of the affected autonomous community.

Legal framework and institutional setting

The UME was created by agreement of the Council of Ministers on October 7, 2005, to provide a rapid and effective response to serious emergencies (large fires, floods, snowstorms, earthquakes, or CBRN risks). Its initial organization was established in Royal Decree 416/2006, which configures it as a joint, permanent military force with deployment throughout the national territory.

Subsequently, Royal Decree 1097/2011 approved the UME Intervention Protocol, which defines in which situations it can be activated, expressly including forest fires. Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, reinforced its role by granting it the status of “public service of intervention and assistance in emergencies” and establishing that, in emergencies of national interest, the UME reports directly to the Ministry of Defense to facilitate rapid activation. Today its general framework is completed by Royal Decree 521/2020, on the basic organization of the Armed Forces.

When and who can activate the UME in fires

The UME does not act on its own initiative in forest fires. Its deployment always responds to a order from the Government of Spain, usually following a request from the civil protection authority of the affected autonomous community, when:

• The fire has reached a size that exceeds the capacity of the regional extinction services.
• The emergency has or may have national interest (due to extent, number of people affected, critical infrastructure at risk, or simultaneous occurrence of several large fires).
• Reinforced state coordination of resources from different administrations is required.

In emergencies of national interest, operational direction on the ground can be entrusted to the UME chief, integrating state, regional, and local resources into a unified command. In these cases, the UME not only provides resources but also command and control capacity.

General functions and powers of the UME

According to its protocol and civil protection regulations, the UME's mission is:

• To intervene, together with State institutions and public administrations, in cases of serious risk, catastrophe, or public calamity.
• To protect and assist the integrity of people and their property, the environment, natural spaces and their heritage, as well as essential infrastructure and services.
• To plan and train its units to be in permanent availability (capable of deploying within a few hours anywhere in the country).
• To also act against other risks: floods, snowstorms, earthquakes, technological emergencies (chemical, nuclear, radiological, or biological), and terrorist attacks.
• To collaborate in international missions through the European Civil Protection Mechanism and United Nations mechanisms.

Specific functions in forest fires

In forest fires, the UME carries out a combination of tasks of direct fire attack, logistical support, and operational coordination:

• Direct attack and perimeter: work at the head and flanks of the fire, construction of defense lines, opening firebreaks, and use of heavy machinery (bulldozers, fire engines, sapper vehicles).
• Protection of populations and infrastructure: support for preventive evacuations, protection of urban centers, industrial parks, power lines, or critical facilities threatened by the fire's advance.
• Support to extinction management: deployment of advanced command posts, command and control systems, communications, and analysis of fire evolution using drones and other observation means.
• Logistical and health reinforcement: transport of personnel and equipment, supply, accommodation, and health support to the entire operation.
• Prevention and preparation: joint exercises with autonomous communities, annual forest fire fighting campaigns, and specialized training of its intervention battalions.

In summary, the UME is the Armed Forces component specifically designed to integrate military muscle into civil emergency management, and in the case of forest fires, it acts as a specialized reinforcement when the emergency exceeds regional capacity or requires a coordinated national response.

The declaration of the severity level of a forest fire in an autonomous community is supported by a combination of basic state regulations and regional civil protection plans. Although each community can detail its own levels (INFOCAT, INFOMA, etc.), all must adhere to common bases set by the State.

1. Applicable basic legal framework

• Law 43/2003, on Forests (with its amendments):
  • Assigns to the competent public administrations the organization of defense against forest fires, with coordinated measures of prevention, detection, and extinction.
  • Obliges coordination of prevention programs taking into account the Basic guideline for civil protection planning of emergencies due to forest fires and the specific plans derived from it.
  • Provides common guidelines for training, standardization of resources, and deployment of state resources in support of autonomous communities.
• Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System:
  • Configures special plans against specific risks (including forest fires) and distinguishes between state and regional plans.
  • Defines the general structure of territorial, special, and self-protection plans, and the role of intervention services (including the UME and regional forest fire extinction services).
  • Establishes that the General State Administration directs and coordinates all administrations when an emergency is declared of national interest.
• Basic Civil Protection Standard and Basic Guideline for Forest Fires:
  • Royal Decree 893/2013, which approves the Basic Guideline for civil protection planning of emergencies due to forest fires (although partially repealed, it remains applicable until the new instrument is approved), sets the minimum requirements that regional plans must meet against this risk.
  • The new Basic Civil Protection Standard (Royal Decree 524/2023) updates the general framework but maintains the logic of special plans and the State–autonomous communities articulation.
• Royal Decree-Law 15/2022, on urgent measures regarding forest fires, strengthens prevention and coordination obligations without altering the basic structure of emergency levels.

2. Operational situation levels and criteria

The Basic Guideline establishes a scheme of “operational situations” that regional plans must respect, although they may change the nomenclature:

• Potential severity index:
  • It is an indicator of the damage the fire may cause, based on topography, size, fuels, threatened forest masses, infrastructure, weather, population presence, etc.
  • Serves as an objective reference to decide the operational situation and prioritize resource mobilization, especially when there are several simultaneous fires.
• Situation 0:
  • Emergency that is expected to affect only forest assets.
  • Considered controllable with ordinary resources of the local or regional plan itself (including state resources acting in their preferred zone).
• Situation 1:
  • Fires that may seriously affect forest assets and, if applicable, slightly affect population or non-forest assets.
  • May require the incorporation of extraordinary resources (from the State or other communities) at the request of the autonomous community and prior state assessment.
• Situation 2:
  • Emergency that, in its foreseeable evolution, may seriously affect population and non-forest assets, requiring immediate protection and relief measures.
  • Prefigures possible escalation to national interest and makes broad mobilization of extraordinary resources more likely.
• Situation 3:
  • Corresponds to the emergency of national interest declared by the Minister of the Interior.
  • The State assumes direction and coordination of all administrations.

The Guideline indicates that the operational situation is determined by a combination of: actual or potential damage (severity index), availability and sufficiency of resources, number and concentration of fires, seasonality, and other administrative or territorial circumstances.

3. Competency distribution and request for state resources

• Autonomous communities approve their special emergency plans for forest fires and are the ones who, in principle, manage the emergency and classify the situation (0, 1, 2).
• When their own resources are insufficient, the competent regional body can request:
  • State extinction resources (aerial or others), considered ordinary if acting in their preferred action zone and extraordinary if outside it.
  • The intervention of the UME, through a request from the community to the Ministry of the Interior, which forwards it to the Ministry of Defense according to Royal Decree 1097/2011 (UME Intervention Protocol).
• The State Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires regulates:
  • The procedure and forms for the community to request state or other communities' resources.
  • That activation of extraordinary state resources is usually associated with the regional plan being at least in Situation 1.
  • The possibility that the State declares the emergency of national interest (Situation 3), assuming strategic direction when magnitude, impact, or coordination needs require it.

In summary, the legal requirements pivot on: existence of regional special plans aligned with the Basic Guideline, use of the potential severity index and criteria of damage and resource availability to move from situations 0–1–2, and ultimately, declaration of national interest by the Minister of the Interior (situation 3), which marks the jump to maximum severity and full state assumption of the emergency.