The coordinator of Izquierda Unida Andalucía and deputy in Congress, Toni Valero, reiterated this Wednesday that his party will demand explanations from the president of the Junta, Juanma Moreno, for the forest fire in Niebla (Huelva), while he criticized that "the priority of the Andalusian Government has been shown not to be in the climate crisis," a phenomenon that, he emphasized, can be faced "with political will" that "neither the PP nor the far-right have."
Valero, accompanied by the provincial coordinator of IU Málaga and deputy spokesperson of the municipal group Con Málaga in the City Council, Toni Morillas, made these statements to the media before touring the Feria del Centro alongside other public officials and representatives of the organization.
The IU leader conveyed "a strong hug to those affected by the fires in Huelva and Seville, which have devastated 38,000 hectares" and emphasized that "it is a natural disaster, but it never remains just that," since "it is also a human tragedy."
In this line, he expressed his recognition "to the professionals who have worked side by side to contain that fire, to prevent that fire from continuing to spread," highlighting their work on the front lines during the emergency.
Valero stressed that it is "a fire that has been, until today, the most serious in the history of Andalusia," underscoring the "until today because we are in a new context of climate crisis that has come to stay," which, in his opinion, forces a rethinking of prevention and response policies.
As he stated, "this fire that has been the most serious shows us one thing and that is that the Government of Moreno Bonilla is not prepared, does not have the capacity to face this new situation because it lacks will," something that, he indicated, has been evident "when it ignored the voices of professionals, when it did not implement preventive measures, when there is an absence of forest management and when it treated the fire in a fatalistic manner as something inevitable."
In this context, he announced that "we are clear about it" and that they will ask the president of the Junta to detail "what happened with the fire, to say what urgent support measures he will put in place to restore the affected areas, to support the affected economic sectors and families; and to lift the professionals who protect us out of precariousness."
Valero has insisted that "something has become very clear: from the public sector, protecting the citizenship, is how these natural disasters are tackled. Only from the public sector, placed at the service of the common good, is the citizenship protected," thus claiming the reinforcement of public services and resources.
For this reason, he has demanded that "the staff of 112 Emergency Services be taken out of precariousness and that forest firefighters be taken out of precariousness," demanding labor improvements and resources for these groups that, he has reminded, act on the front lines in situations of extreme risk.
Likewise, he has warned that "the priority of the Government of Moreno Bonilla has been evidenced that it is not in the climate crisis." In Valero's view, "their priority is to increase perks, to distribute high positions, and to come to an agreement with the far-right," thus distancing themselves from the policies that, according to IU, would be necessary in light of the new climate scenario.
In this sense, he has pointed out that "since 2019 the budget for high positions has increased by 12 million euros. 80 million euros additional have been spent by Moreno Bonilla on high positions while maintaining the precariousness of those who protect us when the situation goes bad," criticizing the distribution of resources by the Junta.
In conclusion, Valero has maintained that "with political will, the climate crisis can be faced, a political will that the Popular Party and the far-right do not have," given that, as he has pointed out, "they are installed in a denialist framework and in a true indifference to what is coming."