Antoni Bassas' analysis: "The Els Ports fire should lead us to a national pact."

The Paüls fire is keeping an alarm bell ringing: it's not that Els Ports doesn't have a plan, it's that we don't have a comprehensive plan as a country to address the climate emergency. That's why a political and social consensus would be necessary, which currently seems impossible. Well, we'll find it.

10/07/2025
2 min

Yesterday's debate in Congress ended just as we explained. Sánchez saved his position, but lost face: the investiture parties told him they'd still support him, but that his time on the neck wouldn't last forever.

You know what? Maybe it will be. Of course, if it were now discovered that the PSOE was financed thanks to the shady dealings of Cerdán and Ábalos, or that Sánchez allowed them to enrich themselves, that would end there. But we must assume that Sanchez would not have left yesterday to say what he said if he knew he was about to be discovered.

So the question then must be why the PP doesn't have the votes to win a vote of no confidence, as Pedro Sánchez did to oust Rajoy from the prime ministership. Each party has its reasons. Esquerra and Bildu are aligning with the left, apart from the fact that ERC has agreed on the new financing and transfer of commuter rail services. Together they agreed on the amnesty with the PSOE. And the PNV governs the Basque Country with the support of the Socialists. But, beyond interests, there is something that the PP and the right-wing media that accompanies it and creates a microclimate in Madrid don't quite understand: the outright rejection generated by the PP that goes hand in hand with Vox, the rejection caused by a PP nominally led by Feijóo, but supervised by Aznar and Ayuso. A Feijóo who fails to inspire and doesn't know how to find the right tone, as if it were something big for him. And, very importantly: Vox is more (and it's no small feat) than the threat of expelling eight million immigrants; it's Trump's arm in Spain, the pledge for the regime change that the Trump administration wants in Europe.

We spoke after the debate in Congress and the most acute phase of the Paüls fire in Baix Ebre.

The Generalitat Firefighters are confident they will be able to control the fire today. After the fire was declared stabilized yesterday, with more than 3,300 hectares burned. It also rained last night, and it was good. But, look: today we published that Els Ports does not have a fire plan, even though a 1986 law requires it. In other words, all governments, from Pujol to Illa, have failed to comply with the law, and that's a very poor explanation. A law alone wouldn't have stopped the fire. And it's true that investment in firefighting has been made, and our firefighters are top-notch experts. But the Paüls fire keeps an alarm ringing: it's not that Els Ports doesn't have a plan, it's that we don't have a comprehensive plan as a country to address the climate emergency. Forest management, keeping farmers and their families at the edge of their crops and pastures—this is the challenge of now and in the future if we don't want to be left without a country. That's why a political and social consensus would be necessary, which today seems impossible. Well, we'll find it.

Good morning.

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