United by Extremadura has demanded this Monday the implementation of a State Pact against forest fires that "makes the investment in prevention multiply by ten because if not this is going to be our daily bread every summer."
This was stated by the spokesperson for United by Extremadura, Irene de Miguel, at a press conference held in Mérida after the spokespersons' meeting, where she referred to the "devastating" fires recorded in recent days in different territories of the country, which in her opinion "must make us reflect" on the seriousness of the problem.
In this appearance, De Miguel expressed her support for the people affected by the fires in Castilla y León, Madrid, and the Valencian Community, as well as for "the people who are risking their lives in front of the fire, the forest firefighters, the UME, and all the state security forces."
In light of this scenario, the leader of United by Extremadura has urged to "set aside ideological slogans and the narrative that some want to impose at this moment based on misinformation and hoaxes" and has demanded that the prevention plans be carried out, whose implementation, she denounced, is "almost nonexistent due to numerous issues such as lack of money in the municipalities, and sometimes also lack of political will."
As she explained, "there is nothing wrong with recognizing that the climate is changing, that we are facing heat waves and thermal bursts that make the fire of these dimensions, of this magnitude, and beyond our capacity for extinction," De Miguel pointed out, who also requested "to invest as much as possible in fire prevention."
During her speech, Irene de Miguel also responded to the Minister of Finance and spokesperson for the Junta de Extremadura, Elena Manzano, who a week ago accused her of lying when the representative of United by Extremadura warned that the region is not sufficiently prepared to face large fires again, like the one recorded last year in Jarilla.
In this regard, she emphasized that "as of July 27, a total of zero euros has been invested by the Junta de Extremadura in fire prevention plans," to which De Miguel has again demanded to invest "ten times more" in fire prevention and that the peri-urban prevention plans be effectively implemented.
"We cannot wait," said Irene de Miguel, who has criticized that in the high fire season decree "the use of heavy machinery is allowed only with a responsible declaration at times when the alert is red in Extremadura or the burning of stubble is allowed," something that, as she has emphasized, "is not enough."