How to claim hotel, transportation, and food expenses after being evacuated due to a wildfire?

For the Government to approve a royal decree-law with extraordinary aid after a forest fire, no prior parliamentary procedure is required: the control by the Cortes is subsequent. The Council of Ministers approves it, it is published in the BOE, and comes into force immediately. Afterwards, the Congress must debate and vote on its validation or repeal within a maximum period of 30 days, and may also decide whether to process it as a bill to introduce amendments. All this is essentially regulated in Article 86 of the Spanish Constitution and in the Rules of the Congress.

Constitutional framework of the decree-law

Article 86 of the Spanish Constitution establishes that, in cases of extraordinary and urgent need, the Government may issue provisional legislative provisions called decree-laws. These norms:

• Cannot affect the organization of the basic institutions of the State, the rights, duties and freedoms of Title I, the regime of the autonomous communities, nor the general electoral law.
• Must be immediately submitted to debate and a vote on the entirety of the Congress within a maximum period of 30 days from their enactment.
• Within that period, the Congress must expressly decide on their validation or repeal.
• During that same period, the Cortes may decide to process them as bills by the urgent procedure.

Urgent aid after forest fires typically fits into this category of “extraordinary and urgent need,” just as has happened with other disasters, for example the royal decree-laws of support after storm “Filomena” (Royal Decree-law 10/2021) or the La Palma eruption (Royal Decree-law 20/2021).

Government approval and entry into force

Before the parliamentary phase, the procedure is strictly governmental:

• The text is drafted in the competent ministry (for example, Ecological Transition or Interior, depending on the type of aid).
• It is submitted to approval by the Council of Ministers as a royal decree-law.
• It is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force, generally, on the same day or the day after its publication.

In this phase, Parliament does not intervene: control is exercised afterwards, through validation or repeal.

Validation or repeal in the Congress

The details of the parliamentary procedure appear in the Rules of the Congress, approved by Resolution of February 24, 1982 (Rules of the Congress, with subsequent reforms, including that of 2025: 2025 reform). The regulatory text specifies how the mandate of Article 86 CE is fulfilled:

• The debate and vote on validation or repeal is held in the Plenary of the Congress or in the Permanent Deputation, before 30 days have passed since enactment.
• A member of the Government first explains the reasons for the extraordinary and urgent need and the content of the aid.
• A totality debate is held, with interventions from parliamentary groups.
• A single vote is held:
  • Affirmative votes mean validating the royal decree-law.
  • Negative votes mean repealing it.
• The simple majority of votes cast (more yes than no) is used to validate or repeal.
• The agreement adopted by the Chamber is published in the BOE through resolutions such as those historically recording validation agreements of various royal decree-laws (for example, the validation resolution of Royal Decree-law 12/2022).

If the Congress repeals the royal decree-law, the aid ceases to be in force from that moment, although effects already produced may be maintained if so provided or regulated later by an ordinary law.

Possible processing as a bill

The Rules of the Congress itself add a potentially key step:

• Once the royal decree-law is validated, the Presidency asks in the Plenary if any parliamentary group wishes it to be processed as a bill.
• If any group requests it, the request is submitted to a vote of the Chamber.
• If the Plenary approves it, the text is processed:
  • As a bill by the urgent procedure.
  • Without admitting total return amendments, but allowing partial amendments (to modify specific aspects of the aid regime, requirements, deadlines, etc.).

This mechanism allows aid issued urgently after a forest fire to be consolidated and, if applicable, improved or expanded through ordinary legislative debate, while maintaining the immediacy of the Government’s initial response.

The Ministry of the Interior plays a central role in civil protection and in managing aid for disasters in Spain, both in the state coordination of emergencies and in processing subsidies for those affected. Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System, along with Royal Decree 307/2005 on subsidies for emergencies, define its key functions. Interior coordinates the response to emergencies of national interest, manages state funds and alert channels, and grants or delegates the granting of aid to individuals, companies, and local entities. Additionally, it relates to other ministries and autonomous communities through specific plans, funds, and agreements.

General framework and emergency coordination

Law 17/2015 integrates civil protection into public security and assigns the State, through the Ministry of the Interior, a coordinating role when there is a national interest. The law itself explains that the breadth of resources of the national system “requires coordination” and therefore specifies the activities to be developed and the intervention and assistance services.

Within this framework, the coordination center of the Directorate General of Civil Protection and Emergencies is strengthened, transforming into the National Center for Monitoring and Coordination of Civil Protection Emergencies. This body, dependent on Interior, is responsible for:

• Managing the information and alert networks of the civil protection system.
• Interconnection and collaboration with other international coordination centers.
• Constituting itself as an operational coordination center from which emergencies of national interest are directed.

In these emergencies, the coordination bodies of the autonomous communities are operationally integrated into this national center, reinforcing the joint capacity of the system.

Declaration of severely affected areas and planning

Law 17/2015 foresees that, in the face of major disasters, the Government may adopt extraordinary measures, including those associated with declaring territories as “areas severely affected by a civil protection emergency”, which serves as a basis for aid packages and sectoral measures. This declaration is formalized through agreements of the Council of Ministers published by ministerial order, such as Order PJC/1222/2024, which explicitly cites Law 17/2015 as its basis.

Emergency planning is articulated in the State General Civil Protection Emergency Plan, approved by Council of Ministers Agreement and published by Resolution of December 16, 2020 ([link]), in accordance with Law 17/2015. Interior is the department responsible for this state planning and its coordination with autonomous and special risk plans.

Management of aid and subsidies for disasters

The basic regime of immediate state aid is regulated in Royal Decree 307/2005, on subsidies for emergency or catastrophic situations. Its preamble recalls that, within the scope of civil protection attributed to the Ministry of the Interior, Royal Decree 692/1981 establishes that this department, directly or through Government Delegations and Subdelegations, is responsible for the granting of immediate aid in emergency or serious risk situations, and in cases of damage to persons or property caused by disasters and public calamities.

Royal Decree 307/2005 itself explains that potential beneficiaries of these aids are:

• Local corporations that have incurred emergency expenses.
• Family units that have suffered personal or property damage.
• Natural or legal persons required by the competent authority to provide services during the emergency.

Due to the characteristics of these beneficiaries — persons and entities in a situation of proven need — a regime of direct granting of aid is justified, managed from Interior and usually channeled through Government Delegations and Subdelegations. Orders such as Order INT/182/2019 expressly delegate competencies to delegates and subdelegates in matters of subsidies for emergencies or disasters.

Funds, instruments, and relationship with other actors

Law 17/2015 creates the Emergency Prevention Fund, managed by the Ministry of the Interior and funded from the General State Budgets, to finance preventive activities such as:

• Hazard, vulnerability, and risk analysis.
• Civil protection risk maps.
• Awareness and preventive information programs.
• Prevention education programs in schools.

The law expressly states that the Ministry of the Interior may enter into collaboration instruments with other ministerial departments, other public administrations, and public or private entities, financing these activities wholly or partially with funds from the fund. An example is collaboration with the Ministry of Education for an emergency training plan in all educational centers.

Additionally, in practice, major disasters are addressed through royal decree-laws of urgent measures (such as Royal Decree-law 2/2019 or Royal Decree-law 11/2019), which complement the general scheme of Law 17/2015 and Royal Decree 307/2005. These texts, although involving other ministries as well (Finance, Labor, etc.), rely on the civil protection system where Interior acts as the coordinating axis.

Final summary

In summary, the Ministry of the Interior coordinates emergencies of national interest through the National Monitoring and Coordination Center, promotes state planning and the declaration of severely affected areas, manages the Emergency Prevention Fund, and directs, directly or by delegation, the granting of state aid to those affected by disasters. All this is articulated in cooperation with autonomous communities, local entities, and other ministries, based on Law 17/2015, Royal Decree 307/2005, and the royal decree-laws of urgent measures approved after each major disaster.

In Spain, for a person to access public aid after an emergency such as a forest fire, they must comply, on the one hand, with the general requirements of any public subsidy (set by the Law 38/2003, General Subsidies Law) and, on the other hand, with the specific requirements of the aid regime for disasters (regulated, among others, by Royal Decree 307/2005, Law 17/2015 on Civil Protection, and urgent measure royal decree-laws such as Royal Decree-law 11/2019). Additionally, it is usually required that the damage falls within the territorial and temporal scope set by each norm (declared affected municipalities, dates of the fire, etc.) and that ownership and the nature of the damaged asset are proven (main residence, agricultural holding, establishment, etc.). All this is articulated through calls and procedures that, at the state level, are processed by Government Delegations and Subdelegations.

1. General framework of subsidies

The Law 38/2003, General Subsidies Law establishes a common regime for all public aid:

• Management principles: subsidies must be granted according to the principles of equality, publicity, transparency, objectivity, effectiveness, and efficiency, which the law indicates as criteria that must guide subsidy management.
• Requirements to be a beneficiary: the law provides “common provisions” that set the requirements for granting subsidies and for obtaining the status of beneficiary or collaborating entity, as well as associated obligations (accounting, registration, and justification).
• Granting regime: generally, competitive concurrence applies, but the law allows direct granting when there are reasons of public, social, economic, or humanitarian interest that hinder a public call. This is the legal fit for disaster aid, as explained in the preamble of Royal Decree 307/2005.
• Limits and reimbursements: adequacy between the subsidy objective and the public funds involved is required, and causes for reimbursement and sanctioning regime are regulated when the destination of the aid is not properly justified.

Specific civil protection and post-disaster aid norms are based on this general framework.

2. Emergency declaration and civil protection framework

Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System foresees the declaration of “area severely affected by a civil protection emergency” as a prerequisite to activate a package of repair measures and economic aid. The law indicates that, in the phase of restoring normality, a common regulatory framework of aid adapted to general subsidy regulations will be established and the following may be approved:

• Direct aid for personal and material damages.
• Tax benefits and temporary tax reductions.
• Moratoriums and exemptions in Social Security contributions.
• Specific labor measures (for example, recognition of force majeure in contract suspensions).

Instruments such as Royal Decree-law 11/2019 use this figure to declare areas severely affected by emergencies (including forest fires) and deploy urgent measures.

3. Specific requirements in aid for fires and other disasters

3.1. Territorial and temporal scope

Sectoral laws such as Law 14/2012 or Law 3/2010 first set the scope of application:

• They are limited to forest fires and other disasters occurring on certain dates and Autonomous Communities.
• Specific municipalities and localities are later determined by Order of the Minister of the Interior; only those who have suffered damage in those municipalities may access the aid.

3.2. Type of damages and proof

Both these laws and Royal Decree 307/2005 and its development refer to a typical aid catalog:

• Personal damages: death or disability directly caused by the disaster, with fixed amounts and specific regime.
• Main residence and belongings: aid for destruction or damage to residence and belongings, where ownership must be proven; flexibly, “any documents” such as property tax receipts or others of similar nature are accepted (as provided by Law 14/2012, Law 3/2010, and Royal Decree-law 11/2019).
• Industrial, agricultural, tourist establishments and other services: Royal Decree-law 11/2019 foresees, for example, that when the Insurance Compensation Consortium applies a deductible, a subsidy of up to 7% of indemnifiable damages may be granted, with a maximum of 9,224 euros under Article 28 of Royal Decree 307/2005, without the sum of indemnities and aid exceeding the value of the damage.
• Agricultural and livestock holdings: it is required, in norms such as Royal Decree-law 11/2019, that losses exceed 30% of production, according to EU criteria.

3.3. Procedure and deadlines

The common regime of state aid for emergencies is articulated in Royal Decree 307/2005, which regulates subsidies in response to needs arising from emergency or catastrophic situations. From the norm itself and references such as Royal Decree-law 11/2019, several formal requirements arise:

• Application: must be submitted to the Government Delegation or Subdelegation of the affected area.
• Deadline: usually a period of two months is set from the entry into force of the norm approving the measures.
• Resolution: corresponds to the Minister of the Interior, charged to specific budget credits for disasters and catastrophes.
• No overcompensation: it is controlled that the sum of insurance, subsidies, and other public or private aid does not exceed the value of the damage actually suffered.

In summary, to access aid for a forest fire it is necessary: that the disaster and municipality are included in the declarative norms, that the damage fits into the subsidizable categories (persons, main residence, belongings, holdings, small businesses), that ownership and extent of the damage are proven, and that the general requirements of subsidy legislation and the deadlines and application forms provided in each specific provision are met.