The tragedy caused by the forest fire in Los Gallardos (Almería), which has left at least 13 dead and several seriously injured, has triggered similar reactions this Monday from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, albeit with their own particular interpretation on how to tackle future fires of this magnitude.
From the Advanced Command Post set up in Turre, Sánchez has revived his grand State pact against the climate emergency, while, hours later, Feijóo has defended the need for a grand national agreement for prevention, coordination, and response to natural risks.
The day saw long-awaited news since Thursday, when the forest fire in Los Gallardos broke out. The President of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, announced this afternoon from the Advanced Command Post that the fire has been officially brought under control.
This is a decisive step in the evolution of the fire, which had already been stabilized during Sunday and which has mobilized an extensive Infoca Plan device for five days, supported by state resources and numerous emergency personnel.
Sánchez calls for a grand State pact against the climate emergency
Hours before Moreno's announcement, Pedro Sánchez visited Turre to meet with operational managers and the mayors of the affected municipalities.
During his appearance, the President of the Government reiterated his defense of the need to reach a grand State pact against the climate emergency, insisting that prevention must become a permanent priority and not be limited to acting only when a catastrophe has already occurred.
Sánchez recalled that approximately one-third of all the surface area burned last year in Europe was concentrated in Spain, a figure he attributed to the worsening climate emergency that particularly affects the Iberian Peninsula.
In this context, he explained that the Executive has already put forward a proposal to articulate a national agreement to strengthen preventive policies through actions such as the creation of security perimeters in municipalities, the promotion of training programs for young people on civil protection, or the strengthening of a culture of fire prevention.
"From the General Administration of the State we are promoting a good part of those measures linked to that State pact", he assured. The president also insisted that climate change no longer constitutes a future scenario but a reality with direct consequences on the population.
"The climate emergency kills, we are seeing it throughout Europe, we are also seeing it in Spain and, consequently, all administrations and society as a whole must rise to the challenge ahead."
Condolences to the victims
On another note, Sánchez highlighted the institutional coordination developed during the emergency and assured that the Government has provided all the means requested by the Junta de Andalucía to combat the fire.
At the same time, he warned that Spain faces a particularly complicated summer in terms of forest fires, although he recalled that the Executive reinforced the state device before the start of the summer campaign through the Plan for Combating Fires presented last May at the Torrejón de Ardoz air base.
The head of the Executive concluded his speech by extending his condolences to the families of the thirteen fatal victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the seriously injured. He also recalled that among the deceased are British and Belgian citizens fully integrated into the towns where they resided.
Feijóo proposes a major national agreement on natural risks
Also from Los Gallardos, the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for his part, raised the need to reach a major national agreement on prevention, coordination, and response to natural risks.
The leader of the opposition defended in a joint statement with Juanma Moreno that said pact must serve to guarantee "safe towns and living mountains" through a stable strategy that clearly defines the competencies of each administration, the available resources, and multi-year budgetary planning.
"Spain cannot continue without a major agreement where the General Administration of the State leads that impulse, presents a proposal, and we all work with the interest of getting it right", he stated.
As he explained, that pact should include the participation of autonomous communities, city councils, scientists specialized in fires, forestry technicians, and also those who live in rural areas and directly know the management of the territory.
In this regard, Feijóo referred to the situation of extensive livestock farming and defended listening to professionals who warn of the difficulties in carrying out preventive cleaning and brush-clearing tasks due to, as he pointed out, certain restrictive regulations.
Call to maintain institutional coordination
Like Sánchez, the president of the PP wanted to highlight the joint functioning of the different administrations during the emergency. "Let no one spoil it", he asked, considering that collaboration between administrations has been one of the key factors during the management of the fire.
Feijóo also acknowledged that he is not optimistic about the rest of the summer campaign. In his opinion, the abundant rains recorded during the spring have left a huge amount of vegetation that now constitutes fuel for possible fires.
Therefore, he described this summer as a "maximum risk" season and appealed to citizen responsibility to follow the instructions of Civil Protection, take extreme precautions, and collaborate with the Security Forces and Corps in the face of any suspicious behavior.
The popular leader also conveyed his solidarity to the families of the thirteen victims, expressed his support for the injured who remain hospitalized, and thanked the work carried out by all the professionals who participated in extinguishing the fire.
Juanma Moreno declares the fire concluded
"The fire is now technically considered under control." Thus began Juanma Moreno's press conference this afternoon. The president of the Junta de Andalucía explained that the fire no longer represents an active threat, although a brigade will remain in the area carrying out surveillance and cooling tasks to prevent possible reactivations.
The Andalusian president also highlighted that the meteorological evolution favors extinction work thanks to the expected increase in relative humidity, which could reach 90% in the coming hours.
Despite this improvement, authorities are keeping the investigation open to determine the origin of the fire and continue to assess the enormous environmental, material, and human damage caused by one of the worst fires recorded in Andalusia in recent years.