The Niebla fire reaches Sevilla and forces the evacuation of El Madroño and its four pedanías.

In Spain, the evacuation of municipalities due to forest fires is organized within the National Civil Protection System. There is no single “evacuation law,” but rather a framework that combines Law 17/2015, the Basic Civil Protection Standard, the Basic Directive on forest fires, and the State Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires. On this basis, each autonomous community and each municipality approve their own plans, which specify who orders the evacuation, how coordination is managed, and how the population is informed.

Basic legal framework

The core regulation is the Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, which:

• Defines the National System and the principles of collaboration, cooperation, coordination, and solidarity among administrations.
• Recognizes the right of citizens to be attended to and informed during emergencies and the duty to collaborate with authorities.
• Provides for the adoption of measures such as requisition of goods, suspension of activities, and, when necessary, entry into homes and evacuation of people, referring to Organic Law 4/2015 on citizen security.

Law 17/2015 is developed through the Basic Civil Protection Standard, approved by Royal Decree 524/2023 (BOE-A-2023-14679), which sets the minimum content and types of plans (general state, territorial, special, and self-protection) and requires the existence of a Special Civil Protection Plan against the risk of forest fires at the state and regional levels.

Specific plans against forest fires

Regarding forest fires, three key state instruments stand out:

• The Basic Directive for civil protection emergency planning for forest fires (Royal Decree 893/2013), which sets the minimum requirements for regional and local plans: structure, operational situations, protection measures for the population (including evacuation and confinement), and coordination criteria.
• The State Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires, which regulates the response when there is national interest or when communities request extraordinary support.
• Royal Decree-law 15/2022, on urgent measures regarding forest fires ([link]), which strengthens preventive and planning obligations, although it does not redefine the chain of command in evacuations.

Who can order the evacuation?

According to Law 17/2015 and the Basic Directive:

• In ordinary emergencies, evacuation is decided by the designated authority in the autonomous community’s Plan (usually the competent councilor or the director of the regional plan) and in the municipal Plan (usually the mayor or their delegate).
• In situations declared to be of national interest (Situation 3 according to the Directive), the superior direction passes to the Minister of the Interior, through the organization of the State Plan, without displacing the operational execution at the regional and local levels.
• The law empowers civil protection authorities to order the evacuation of people in danger and entry into homes when the nature of the emergency requires it, temporarily and proportionally to the severity of the situation.

Coordination between State, communities, and municipalities

Coordination is built at several levels:

• Law 17/2015 creates the National Civil Protection System and the National Civil Protection Council, which approves strategies and ensures plan coherence.
• The forest fire Directive establishes that there must be regional plans, municipal or district plans, and the State Plan, all compatible with each other to allow a common “minimum national structure.”
• The State Plan provides for bodies such as the Steering Council, the State Coordination Committee (CECO), and the Integrated Operational Command, which articulate the relationship between the General State Administration, autonomous communities, and local entities when state resources intervene (including the Military Emergency Unit).

Information and warnings to the population

Law 17/2015 recognizes everyone’s right to be adequately informed about risks, measures taken, and behaviors to follow, both preventively and during the emergency. It also creates the National Civil Protection Alert Network, managed by the Ministry of the Interior, to communicate warnings to competent authorities and facilitate that citizens and essential services are informed in the face of emergency threats.

The Basic Directive requires that forest fire plans specify the mechanisms for warning the population (sirens, messages, media, digital systems) and instructions on confinement, evacuation, safe routes, and meeting points, with special attention to people with disabilities and vulnerable groups.

Territorial and municipal plans

According to Law 17/2015, the Territorial Plans (regional and local) and the Special Forest Fire Plans detail, for each specific territory:

• The risk zones and fire scenarios.
• The responsibilities of each authority (who declares each emergency level and who orders partial or total evacuations).
• The evacuation procedures: phases, routes, transport, care for dependent persons, reception centers, and registration of evacuated people.
• The integration of self-protection plans for critical facilities, housing developments, or infrastructures within the general device.

In practice, therefore, the state framework sets the rules of the game, and the autonomous communities, together with municipalities, specify the operational evacuation protocol for each municipality within that common framework.

The Guardia Civil plays a central role in managing emergencies and evacuations in rural areas because, by law, it is the competent force in “the rest of the national territory” outside capitals and large urban centers. It acts as the reference security force in civil protection incidents (forest fires, floods, heavy snowfalls, accidents, etc.) providing assistance, controlling access, and supporting evacuations. It always operates within the framework of the National Civil Protection System and under the direction of the authority designated in the emergency plans (regional or state). Its functions do not replace firefighters, emergency medical services, or other specialized resources but support and coordinate with them.

Basic legal framework

The competencies of the Guardia Civil are mainly framed in:

• Organic Law 2/1986 on Security Forces and Corps, which defines it as an armed institute of military nature and assigns it specific functions, including collaborating with civil protection services in cases of serious risk, catastrophe, or calamity, with a territorial distribution reserving the Guardia Civil’s action in rural areas and territorial sea.
• Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System, which integrates civil protection into public security, recognizes the role of Security Forces and Corps as “public services of intervention and assistance in emergencies,” and establishes that when they intervene in emergencies led by another administration, they will do so under their natural commands but following the orders of the authority of the corresponding civil protection plan.

Operational role in rural emergencies and evacuations

In practice, the functions of the Guardia Civil in emergencies and evacuations in rural areas are articulated on several levels:

• Alert, first response, and assistance: as a force deployed extensively in rural areas, it is usually one of the first to arrive. It detects the situation, alerts 112 centers and civil protection, establishes an initial security perimeter, and provides immediate assistance to affected people.
• Public order and access control: it secures roads and access paths, blocks routes, manages traffic during preventive or forced evacuations, and prevents unauthorized entry into risk zones (fires, floods, collapses, etc.).
• Direct support to evacuation: it accompanies and organizes the transfer of vulnerable populations (elderly, minors, people with disabilities), helps evacuate isolated homes, and coordinates meeting points with health and civil protection services.
• Protection of property and environment: besides protecting people, its role in safeguarding nature, environment, and forest resources is especially relevant in forest fires and other environmental disasters in the countryside.
• Investigation of causes: after serious emergencies (for example, a large fire or a flood with significant damage), it can act as judicial police to investigate causes and possible criminal responsibilities.

Coordination with other administrations

Within the National Civil Protection System, the Guardia Civil does not direct the emergency unless it assumes specific authority functions by legal or judicial mandate. As a general rule:

• It is integrated into territorial and special civil protection plans (regional, provincial, municipal) as an intervention and support service to the civil protection authority.
• When it intervenes in emergencies not declared of national interest promoted by autonomous communities or local entities, it acts “framed and under the orders of its natural commands” but operationally directed by the authority of the corresponding civil protection plan, according to Law 17/2015.
• In emergencies of national interest or involving mobilization of state resources (including the Military Emergency Unit), it is subject to coordination exercised by the Ministry of the Interior and Government Delegates, according to the same law.

Competency limits

The main limits are:

• Territorial scope: Organic Law 2/1986 reserves to the Guardia Civil the exercise of the functions of State Security Forces and Corps outside provincial capitals and other specified urban centers, making it the reference force in rural areas, without prejudice to the existence of regional or local police where applicable.
• No substitution of specialized services: it does not assume technical functions proper to firefighters, health services, or specialized rescue teams, although it supports and complements them.
• Subjection to civil protection plans: in emergencies and evacuations, its actions are subordinated to the command structure established in the plans approved by competent authorities, both regional and state.

Related regulations and documents

The cited or linked norms and provisions include, among others: Law 17/2015, Organic Law 2/1986, General State Emergency Plan, Basic Civil Protection Standard 2023, as well as other regulatory texts and resolutions on emergencies, civil protection, Guardia Civil, and related professional qualifications: [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], among other resolutions and constitutional court rulings related to Organic Law 2/1986.

The coordination of emergency devices between several provinces in forest fires is mainly structured through the State’s basic civil protection regulations and the special forest fire plans of each autonomous community, which are integrated into a common model. The central axis is the Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, developed by the Basic Civil Protection Standard approved by Royal Decree 524/2023. For the specific risk of forest fires, the Basic Directive for emergency planning for forest fires and the State Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires remain in force, establishing how the State and communities coordinate when the fire exceeds the scope of a single province or autonomous community. Additionally, the Law 43/2003, of Forests operates as a fundamental sectoral regulation in forestry matters.

1. Basic civil protection framework and interterritorial coordination

1.1 Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System

The Law 17/2015 defines civil protection as a public service and creates the National Civil Protection System as an essential instrument “to ensure coordination, cohesion, and effectiveness of public civil protection policies.” Among its key elements for coordination between provinces and communities are:

• Integration of all Administrations: the system integrates civil protection activities of the State, autonomous communities, and local entities, obliging them to act with criteria of collaboration, cooperation, coordination, and interterritorial solidarity.
• National Civil Protection Council: a multilateral cooperation body where common criteria are agreed upon, including the shared use of state and regional resources and unit cost prices when several Administrations intervene.
• Emergencies of national interest: the law strengthens the powers of direction and coordination of the Minister of the Interior in emergencies of national interest, which is relevant when a large fire affects several provinces or communities.

1.2 Basic Civil Protection Standard (Royal Decree 524/2023)

The Basic Civil Protection Standard develops Law 17/2015 and sets the coordination bases between plans and Administrations. According to its preamble and articles:

• It determines the risks that must be planned for (including forest fires) and the minimum content of plans.
• It regulates “the bases for improving coordination and effectiveness of the actions of the different Public Administrations in managing the emergency cycle,” establishing principles such as single command of emergencies, coordination, and orderly succession of phases and plans.
• It defines the Basic Planning Guidelines as instruments to guarantee plan homogeneity when several Administrations concur, key in interprovincial situations.

2. Specific forest fire regulations and state plans

2.1 Basic Directive for emergency planning for forest fires

The Directive was approved by Royal Decree 893/2013. Although part of its regime has been affected by the new Basic Standard, Royal Decree 524/2023 foresees that it will continue to apply “until new planning instruments are approved” for this risk.

This Directive establishes a minimum national model and a tiered planning structure:

• State plan.
• Regional forest fire plans.
• Local action plans and self-protection plans.

Its objective is to allow, “where appropriate, coordination and joint action of the different services and administrations involved,” especially coordinating action when several territorial plans must be activated simultaneously.

2.2 State Civil Protection Plan for Emergencies due to Forest Fires

The State Plan is approved by Resolution of October 31, 2014, which publishes the Council of Ministers’ Agreement. This plan, developed according to the Basic Directive, has basic functions:

• “To foresee the organizational structure that allows the direction and coordination of all Public Administrations in emergency situations due to forest fires where national interest is present.”
• “To foresee mechanisms and procedures to coordinate the provision of means and resources” when those foreseen in regional plans are insufficient or when a community requests them.
• To establish mechanisms for collaboration between autonomous community plans in a coordinated manner when resources from one community are needed in another.

In practice, this State Plan is the instrument that articulates coordination when a fire affects or may affect several provinces or autonomous communities simultaneously.

3. Basic forestry and forest fire regulations

The Law 43/2003, of Forests, amended by Law 21/2015, is the basic sectoral regulation. It is not an operational coordination text for devices but sets the general framework of forest policy, including:

• Emphasis on the “need for coordination among different Administrations in prevention and firefighting.”
• State competencies to establish common guidelines for training, standardization of means, and deployment of state support means to autonomous communities “for forest fire coverage.”

This forestry framework is complemented by temporary regulations such as Royal Decree-law 15/2022, on urgent measures regarding forest fires, which strengthens prevention and coordination obligations during high-risk campaigns.

4. Regional plans and interprovincial coordination within each community

Based on the above state framework, each autonomous community approves its Special Civil Protection Plan against forest fires, which organizes coordination between provinces within its territory. Some examples:

• Andalusia: Decree 371/2010, approving the Andalusian Forest Fire Emergency Plan, and Decree-law 2/2023 on emergencies and fire management.
• Community of Madrid: INFOMA Plan, approved by Decree 59/2017, with subsequent modifications and corrections ([link], [link], [link]).
• Valencian Community: Regional civil protection and emergency law (Law 13/2010) and forestry and fire regulations (Law 13/2018, Decree-law 1/2023).
• Castile and León: Law 4/2007 on Citizen Protection, Law 3/2009 on Forests, and Decree-law 2/2023 on fire prevention and extinction.

These regional plans develop command organization, coordination centers, activation levels, and mechanisms for requesting and transferring resources between provinces within the same community. When the fire exceeds that scope or requires state or international resources, coordination rises to the common framework described (Law 17/2015, Basic Standard, Basic Directive, and State Plan), thus ensuring the integration of all involved Administrations.