They have been left standing in the final stretch because there is no one to give them the necessary medical examination before occupying a position. The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso put out to tender on March 20 a contract for a private company to be in charge of examining the health status of applicants, but the competition has been void. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and the Interior points out that work is being done so that future firefighters can go through this process “in the shortest time possible.”
The next promotion will have 267 new specialists, who should have passed the medical examination during the summer to be able to begin their training in September, the previous step to entering one of the 22 parks that the regional body currently has. In fact, the Community of Madrid is counting on these income to put two new bases into operation, according to the CSIT union. “The opening of the Villanueva de la Cañada and Villarejo de Salvanés fire stations will not be able to be carried out due to the lack of professionals, because the Fire Department staff cannot assume more extraordinary hours than at the moment,” they say in a statement.
The situation, they add, “becomes especially serious” taking into account that the Special Forestry Group (GERIF), the new specialized unit of the force that will be reinforced and which is currently in the process of creation, is expected to be installed in the Villanueva de la Cañada park. “Each park needs about 60 professionals, but today the staff cannot take on the new openings,” explains Israel Naveso, CSIT spokesperson firefighter. The union estimates that currently the autonomous Administration spends 25 million euros to pay for the overtime that these professionals work to make up for staff shortages.
The 267 firefighters who will leave the selectivity in progress will be a great relief for the situation experienced by the 1,648 troops that the force has, who will represent an increase of 16% of the workforce. The Ministry of the Environment, headed by Carlos Novillo, highlights the increase in the number of places in this process, when in the past an average of 125 has been opened. Precisely due to the number of people taking part in this opposition, the regional government was forced to outsource the medical examination service, which is normally carried out by the medical unit integrated into the force. The Environment spokesperson points out that “this is a specific measure limited only to aspiring firefighters” and not to other professionals.
The contract, at about 438 euros per opponent, but in the 10 days that the tender was open, no company has presented itself. Naveso considers that this price is “very low”, something that they had already “warned” the Community of Madrid. From the department they insist that they are “exploring solutions to be able to carry out the recognitions in the shortest possible time so that the new troops can begin to provide their service to citizens as soon as possible.”
CSIT denounces that regarding the management of oppositions by the Madrid Executive, and especially by the General Directorate of Public Function, “it is common for their actions to end up resulting in delays that affect, firstly, the applicants and, secondly, the Fire Department both at an operational and economic level.” Naveso adds the damage it causes to citizens, since possible delays in the opening of new parks will negatively impact the service they receive.
The Community of Madrid has promised that by the end of 2026 the number of fire stations will rise to 23 with the opening of one in Alcorcón and then they will reach 28. The remaining five parks will be ready “in the coming years” and will be located in the municipalities of Cobeña, Loeches, Torrejón de Ardoz, Villanueva de la Cañada and Villarejo de Salvanés, with an investment of 27 million euros. The last two were scheduled to open next year. “The objective of these new infrastructures is that 90% of the region’s population can be served within a maximum period of 10 minutes to reduce the personal, economic and environmental damage caused by fires,” according to the Community of Madrid.
The opponents have gone through a tough selective process since 2024 that they have now seen stop, without knowing when it can be resumed. “The Fire Department has been organizing the training process for the 267 candidates for months since it is the largest promotion there has ever been and the economic and logistical needs are immense,” complain the CSIT firefighters. “All that work and investment will be of no use if the process does not begin within the expected deadlines because at the bureaucratic level the demands are maximum when it comes to hiring and managing the needs of the training actions.”
The union has called a demonstration for next April 15 in Puerta del Sol. They will not only protest about this situation, which “endangers” the incorporation of new firefighters, but also because “the lack of personnel prevents the opening of new parks, increases the overload of the workforce and perpetuates a model based on the abuse of the extraordinary efforts of professionals.”
