Often when we see old photos of mountain villages, there's something that catches our attention: there are far fewer trees than now. Indeed, until the mid-20th century, wood was the main fuel that heated houses and there was an entire economic sector dedicated to it. With the change in the energy paradigm and the introduction of fossil fuels and electricity, forests and wood ceased to be profitable, and the result is that the forest mass has multiplied to such an extent that it now occupies 70% of the territory in Catalonia. Less wood is consumed, and moreover, what is consumed is mostly from abroad, specifically 80%.

There are no more woodcutters. This forest trade from the mid-20th century disappeared due to the energy transition – the replacement of natural resources with fossil fuels – and the rural exodus towards cities. It is an example of how the economy of many territories has been transformed and, consequently, their landscape, especially the forest. Reflections like this have been brought back to the table following the major fires that have ravaged Catalonia and the State, and which have put the need – although some speak of an obligation – to manage a forest that, added to the climate crisis, has an unprecedented fuel load. And behind it all, a key but wasted resource: wood and its potential. "It has much more than we are giving it," anticipates Mario Beltrán, technician at the Centre for Forest Science and Technology of Catalonia (CTFC). This does not mean that wood is not used in our country, but much of it comes from abroad. Today, Catalonia imports 80% of the wood it consumes. Of this amount, 40% comes from other parts of Spain and the rest from abroad. In Spain as a whole, more wood is also imported than exported, especially in the form of products with higher added value such as sawn timber and paper pulp.

Catalonia now has double the forests it had in the 1950s – the forest area has gone from 35% of the territory to almost 65% – and the fires of recent weeks — the last one this Friday in Collserola — and a legislative plot twist have strongly reopened a debate that already existed in the sector: on whom should the responsibility fall – and in whose name should the bill go – for maintenance? Currently, only 30% of forests are managed, meaning that active work is being done on them, such as logging, undergrowth clearing, or new plantings. In this context, a small change in a discreet article has revolutionized the sector. As the ARA explained a few months ago, Royal Decree-Law 21/2025, which obliged owners to maintain the land in condition and empowered the administration to do so at a cost – meaning, passing the bill to the owner – mutated during the parliamentary process and went from "obliging" to simply requesting "collaboration." A direct request from the forestry sector.

We are on fire again. The wildfire summer has started very early, driven by extreme heatwaves that have added to an abundant forest mass, with great fire potential, due to the rainy spring and winter that preceded us. In Almeria, the fires have been tragic, with a very sad human cost. Social alarm is, therefore, entirely justified.

More than half of Catalonia is forest. These are forest areas that over the last century have grown where there were once fields, crops, and agricultural activity that, over time, has been abandoned. And nature has reclaimed the land. These are young and dense forests that have occupied the space left by rural exodus and agricultural abandonment, which over the last century have pushed the population of villages towards cities.