The public prosecutor's office opens an investigation against the president of Castile and León for his handling of the fires

BarcelonaThe Public Prosecutor's Office of Castile and León will finally investigate the controversial handling of the August wildfires by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, following a complaint filed by the Bierzo Aire Limpio (Clean Air Bierzo) Association against the president of the Castile and León regional government and his Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones. According to the document obtained by the EFE news agency, the Prosecutor's Office opened the investigation into alleged crimes of malfeasance by omission, environmental offenses, failure to provide assistance, and other offenses related to the inaction and deficient performance of the regional administration. "The regional government had all the information to anticipate the situation, but chose not to reinforce the operation, despite past experience," the association points out, also noting that after previous disasters (such as the 2022 fires), the firefighting operation was not reinforced, nor were resources allocated to fighting the fires increased. Regional Minister Suárez-Quiñones, for his part, recalled that several complaints were also filed after the 2022 fires, but they were dismissed. In fact, he asserted that after those fires, "very strong" decisions were made regarding investment and operations, but that this year's fires occurred under "unknown circumstances." "We will provide all the necessary explanations," he added.

Similarly, the spokesperson for the Mañueco government, Carlos Fernández Carriedo, assured that the Regional Government will cooperate with the ongoing investigation, "which is natural if there is a complaint," and will provide all the documentation requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office. In a press conference following the regional government meeting, he insisted that "it is logical that documentation is requested following a complaint," and the Regional Government will provide it, also assuring that it respects "the judicial procedures and processes."

Moreno, also under investigation

At the end of August, Mañueco appeared before the Parliament of Castile and León to give explanations about his handling of the fires. There he defended himself against the opposition's calls for his resignation. The president of Castile and León is not the first to be investigated by the courts for his management. Apart from Carlos Mazón, the Valencian president, for his handling of the DANA storm, there is also The Seville Prosecutor's Office opened proceedings Last week, following a complaint alleging that some medical records related to mammograms for breast cancer detection in Andalusia had been deleted or altered, an investigation was launched. This comes in addition to the one already opened by the High Prosecutor's Office of Andalusia to investigate errors made by Juanma Moreno's government in the early detection program for the disease.