Senate clash over who doesn't invest enough in prevention

MadridThe second episode of the clash between the Spanish government and the PP in the Senate over the management of the fires had as its protagonist this Wednesday the Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, after the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, on Tuesday, provoked by the PP with the exhibition of UME videos for fifty minutes intervening in the extinction. The third vice president has a less combative profile, although she has not been boasting that the autonomous communities have jurisdiction over the environment and forest management. "Any pact must have a budget allocation and must be a joint effort with measures and actions that can bring about change and are implemented within our existing framework of powers," Aagesen argued, after hearing how political groups demanded resources if she wanted them to comply with the state pact against the climate emergency proposed by Pedro S.

The head of the Ministry of Demographic Challenge knew that the parties would demand more investment if the diagnosis of the underlying problem was—a unanimous force, of course—that more opportunities must be provided to the rural sector, which is the one that clears forests to prevent macrofires. For this reason, he argued that in recent years there has been a positive migration balance in rural areas and that the Spanish government's budget for fire prevention and suppression has increased "by practically 50 percent" since 2018. According to data provided by the ministry to the ARA (Argentine National Assembly), when the PSOE took office, 13 million euros were budgeted for prevention and 77 million for suppression; and in 2025, the figure will be 26 million for prevention and 108 million for suppression. As reported by the forestry sector, the figures for prevention, which is what they now regret not having boosted, are very low and "disproportionate" in relation to suppression.

"It's a lie that a lot of money is being mobilized. The reason we don't have sufficient resources is that there is no budget for 2025," attacked the PP spokesperson on the committee, Francisco Javier Márquez. The Conservative representative denied that there was a problem of powers, but rather a problem of resources, but Aagesen insisted on the responsibility of the regional governments to implement investments. The minister explained the allocation of 252 million euros in European funds for forest management, but lamented that the autonomous communities have not reported how they have spent them. "If they want traceability, they should ask the autonomous communities, who have the authority," insisted Aagesen, after emphasizing that 320 million euros from the regional agricultural development fund are still pending use.

The minister also highlighted the professionalization of the emergency services under her ministry—unlike some regional teams, such as those in Castilla y León, which are outsourced and in precarious conditions—and listed, one by one, those made available for each fire during the month of August. Less provocatively than Robles, Aagesen also sought to demonstrate with this list that the Spanish government has not been "late" in helping communities extinguish fires, as the PP claims, but has been there from the very beginning.

Together attacks the PP and PSOE

Regarding the Catalan political parties, ERC Senator Jordi Gaseni called for investment in rural areas and for the climate change strategy to be "integrated" with an agricultural strategy. From Junts, Senator Eduard Pujol preferred to accuse the PP and PSOE of "generating political disaffection" with their attitude.hooligan"These words, which were also used by the PP's number two, Miguel Tellado, to refer to the director of Civil Protection, brought a reprimand from the committee's chairman, who implicitly invited Pujol not to return to this forum. "It is not the usual tone of this committee that has brought us here today," he said, "that has left him here today."