The Board of (PP) insists on its last political debates before facing the polls: the fires that caused five deaths and 143,880 hectares devastated in summer were due to extreme weather conditions that made them “inextinguishable” and that the fire “does not understand administrative borders.”
The Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones, explained this Wednesday, forced by the opposition, his opinion on the “unfortunate fires.” Quiñones has vindicated the operation despite internal and external criticism and maintained the Board’s thesis: little more could be done in the face of the heat waves and that not everything is the fault of the regional government. The flames become an electoral weapon with the other parties demanding more prevention and resources against the reproaches of the Board.
The counselor, who already appeared at the request of the chamber at the end of August, spoke for an hour and a quarter in a commission to take stock of 2025 with a speech focused on three axes in addition to the recovery work: the regulatory framework, the meteorological conditions and the operation. Quiñones has argued that although forest management and extinction devices correspond to the autonomies, “fires do not understand administrative borders” and has appealed to “coordination” between institutions, although communities can declare level 3 emergencies if they understand that they are in a critical situation that requires state intervention. The president of the Board, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, maintained at the beginning that they had a “sufficient operation” to end up failing the central Executive for not sending them as many reinforcements as they demanded.
Quiñones has focused on the adverse weather conditions that complicated the extinction. The senior official, who spent 28 days out of the public spotlight after being criticized for responding “We have a bad habit of eating” for being absent on the first day of the fire, has alluded to the complexity of the scenario through technical concepts such as pyrocumulus clouds, thermal inversions, heat waves, megafires or thermal anomalies. “The weather not only influences, it decisively conditions the appearance and behavior of fires and their possibilities of extinction. We can count on the best means, but in adverse weather it can be inextinguishable,” he stated, although the Environment had been handling reports since the beginning of August, before the fires, warning of the very high risk of ignition and spread and of the imminent heat wave.
The counselor has lamented “variables for which in many cases there is little management capacity in controlling and extinguishing the fire”, something that the firefighters admitted in the summer.
Several brigade members have come to the door of the Cortes to exclaim “We are your waste” in reference to the fact that Quiñones asserted in 2018 that it was “absurd and wasteful” to have an active operation all year round, his main demand, since only part of them work for 12 months. The advisor, despite maintaining that the device was appropriate, has guaranteed the acquisition of new resources, such as bulldozers or helicopters. Quiñones has also blamed the arsonists, especially in León, although there are only two arrested for causing outbreaks this summer in the territory, one in Ávila and another in Zamora, this one for negligence.
The head of the Environment has defended the investments and has cited 2022, when after the fires in the Culebra mountain range (Zamora), with four deaths and 60,000 hectares burned, it was agreed with the Social Dialogue to improve the operation. The components insist on asking for a totally public model and not public-private, as now, and better conditions: many have temporary contracts. Quiñones has claimed the “greater stability, professionalization and responsiveness” derived from this gradually increased spending and amid promises from the Board to continue improving it. The brigade members welcome these announcements with skepticism, as they value these increases but continue to consider them insufficient.
The person also responsible for the management company that runs the PP of León, the province most affected by the flames, has praised the 114 million euros committed to those affected and has thanked the operation for its work in addition to showing his “dismay” at the human losses.
The opposition has reproached him for not mentioning the four deaths in direct fires and the other who died in an attempt and has denounced his “arrogant” attitude. Nuria Rubio, from the PSOE, has criticized the “lack of self-criticism” in a “disappointing appearance” and has recalled the inefficient means, such as telecommunications, offered to firefighters during their eternal shifts. José Antonio Palomo, from Vox, has called for more prevention among anti-ecologist and anti-bureaucracy speeches but has praised his “loyalty.” Juan Antonio Palomar, from Soria Now! and as spokesperson for the Leonese People’s Union, he has maintained that “something must have been done wrong, everything cannot be attributed to the weather and that they are uncontrollable fires.” Pablo Fernández, for Unidas Podemos, has charged against the “miserable” and “scoundrel” Quiñones in an appearance “without scruples and without a hint of self-criticism with falsehoods”, also pointing out Mañueco as “responsible” and asking Vox if they will support the PP if Quiñones remains in office. The independent Francisco Igea has condemned the fact that he did not mention the victims and has ironically stated that “everything was fine but we need twice as much”, due to the proposed investments, and has been amazed that the counselor assures that in León, where he comes from and where the PP fears being punished at the polls, there are more arsonists or “criminals”.
