Which politicians are most implicated in the fires?

BarcelonaThe fires that have been burning for days in several parts of the Peninsula are triggering a new political battle in Spain between the PSOE and the PP, as already occurred with the DANA (National Action Plan for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination). Autonomous communities governed by the Popular Party (PP) denounce that the Spanish government "is not up to the task" and has arrived "late," while the state executive affirms that the Military Emergency Unit (UME) has been working "from day one" with the "necessary" means. However, in recent hours this crossfire has transcended the scope of statements and has begun to materialize into requests for appearances.

In the Senate, the PP announced this Wednesday that it will request the appearance of the Third Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, and the Ministers of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and of Defense, Margarita Robles. The Popular Party, which has an absolute majority in the Upper House, wants the three members of the Executive to give explanations "next week" regarding the handling of this crisis. In any case, the responsibility for forest management and firefighting falls to the autonomous communities, and therefore, if a Level 3 emergency is not declared, the regional governments are responsible for organizing and mobilizing the necessary resources to control and extinguish the blazes.

In this regard, in Castile and León, all opposition groups will request the appearance of the President of the Regional Government, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, before the regional parliament. The PSOE has even called for his resignation. In recent hours, the PP leader has been surrounded by several controversies. First, for taking too long to interrupt his vacation in Cádiz.And then he was accused of underutilizing resources sent by the Spanish government while, at the same time, requesting more personnel. Specifically, two logistics bases were set up in the towns of Bembibre and Cisterna on Monday to serve 180 members of the firefighting operation. However, these facilities, despite having been set up, were not used. In response to this, the regional president asserted on Wednesday that the resources that arrive "are utilized to the maximum" and are used "when the director of the operation decides."

Days earlier, over the weekend, Mañueco complained: "Army reinforcements are not arriving, and they are necessary." These statements have been countered by several ministers, including Robles. On Wednesday, the defense minister insisted that the regional president "knows perfectly well" that "from day one, the UME (Union of Military Units) and the necessary army resources have been acting and working." From Jaca (Huesca), Robles also emphasized that the resources currently working "are sufficient" and pointed out that if there were aerial resources that had not been able to fly, it was because "it was impossible" due to the magnitude of the fires.

In Galicia, the government of the Popular Party (PP) leader Alfonso Rueda has also faced criticism for its management. The most recent, following the withdrawal of firefighters from Lugo and A Coruña in the midst of the wave of fires. The Galician government justified this on Wednesday by explaining that the withdrawn operations are urban. Until now, says the Galician government, these operations have performed "protection functions for towns and homes," but the tasks now required are forestry and must be carried out by firefighters trained in this field. The Xunta (Galician Regional Government) has drawn criticism from the BNG (National Guard of Galicia): "Who is responsible for this difficult-to-understand decision?" asked the party's spokesperson, Ana Pontón.

Beyond requests for appearances and controversies over resource management, the exchange of barbs between the PSOE and the PP has been ongoing for days. Yesterday, Wednesday, for example, the president of the Andalusian Regional Government, Juanma Moreno, criticized Pedro Sánchez for his visit to the areas affected by the fires on the 17th. Moreno said that, when the mosque in Córdoba burned down on August 8th, although it could have reached the city "in an hour" in an hour it was "necessary" and because he is not in favor of taking "free photos in situations that are complex." He also described the Spanish president's reaction to the fires as "late", as well as his proposal for a state pact regarding the climate emergency, which he believes should have been offered "a year ago" and with "content".

In Extremadura, the Socialists have attacked the Popular Party this week regarding fire prevention. While the PP spokesperson in this community boasted about being the only autonomous community affected by the fires that has increased spending on fire prevention, the PSOE criticized him for saying that the data corresponds to 2022, when in Extremadura was governed by the PSOE: "The PP loves what we did. Now we just need to match it."

Rejection of the state pact

Another clash between the Popular Party and the Socialists arose from Sánchez's announcement of a "grand state pact" for "mitigation and adaptation" to the climate emergency. The Spanish Prime Minister proposed it on Sunday, as a long-term response to the wave of fires in the country, but the Popular Party quickly distanced itself from it. The Conservative spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, described it as a "smokescreen" and a "flight forward," given the thirty arrests for arson, ignoring, however, the fact that land is more vulnerable if preventive and recovery efforts are not carried out. "Having a state pact on climate change is like having a pact for the oceans in the middle of a tsunami; it's useless," she stated on Monday. The PSOE has urged the PP to "reconsider" and distance itself from the Vox "denialists": "[Feijóo] said he came to engage in politics for adults. Well, now is the time to prove it, to sit down and get to work," added Enma López, deputy spokesperson for the executive branch, on Wednesday.