The Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Castilla y León, Carlos Martínez, has demanded that the president of the Junta, the 'popular' Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, admit that "he does not have sufficient means" to face the fires in the Community and that he should not delay the request for help from the State regarding the fire affecting the area of Los Arribes, between Zamora and Salamanca.
These statements were made this Thursday during his visit to the municipal extensive livestock farm in El Cubo de Don Sancho (Salamanca), where he defended that "public policies" favor "the attachment to the territory and the search for opportunities for people to be able to stay where they were born."
In relation to the fires that have been affecting Castilla y León in recent weeks, Martínez emphasized the importance of acknowledging that climate change "has arrived and has absolutely disastrous consequences" and that it is essential to promote "a political pact, a State agreement to be able to take measures that somehow manage the territory differently."
"Mañueco has to join that pact in the fight against climate change," pointed out the socialist leader, who detailed that the PSOE intends to take "a step further" in the fight against fires and in the management of the territory. In this context, he stressed that the problem of depopulation also requires a specific State Pact.
"Let's see how the new fires evolve," Martínez commented, to emphasize next that the response in firefighting efforts is faster and more effective when the Community has a greater deployment of resources.
Therefore, he insisted that it has been proven "how by escalating the level of national emergency, a fire that had the operation on the ropes in the case in Ávila was resolved in just four or five days."
In light of this experience, Martínez has urged Mañueco "not to wait, to recognize once and for all that he does not have sufficient means to cover the fires and that no one from another Community should have to come to escalate the level and request that assistance from the central Government."
"If the fire in Los Arribes complicates as it seems to be the case, let us not wait as we did last year," reiterated the socialist leader.
Public policies and extensive livestock farming
In this framework, and taking advantage of his visit to El Cubo de Don Sancho, the general secretary of the PSOE of Castilla y León has highlighted the role of the City Council, which for years has been working to create opportunities and link traditional land uses to the municipality itself through its commitment to extensive livestock farming.
"We need extensive livestock farming, we need rights and coverage of public services in the municipalities, to organize the territory, to regionalize, and we need in some way that in that State pact Castilla y León has its own voice claiming and demanding the needs that we have as a territory," he pointed out.
In this same line, he defended that local governments must be an active part of that State Pact and that Castilla y León must have its own voice to promote land management, regionalization, and a future horizon for the 2,248 municipalities of the Community.