The PSPV-PSOE denounces that the Consell did not execute 21% of the budget to hire forest firefighters

ValenciaThe PSPV-PSOE has reported that the Popular Party's Consell left 21% of the budget allocated for hiring forest firefighters unexecuted during 2025, a year in which the workforce of the Valencian Society for Integrated Management of Emergency Services (SGISE) only increased by two members, going from 889 to 891 forest firefighters. This was stated this Sunday, August 2nd, by the socialist spokesperson for Emergencies in the Corts, Alicia Andújar, who affirmed that “the problem is no longer just the 14 million cut that the service suffered in 2024, but the Consell's inability to execute resources and reinforce an essential operation”.

In this regard, the socialist deputy pointed out that “Pérez Llorca's PP cannot sell a safe Valencian Community while the Consell leaves the budget unexecuted to reinforce the forest firefighters” and underlined that the official data from the SGISE management report demonstrate that "the problem is no longer solely budgetary, but one of management incapable of converting available resources into more firefighters and greater response capacity against forest fires”. Furthermore, she warned that this situation forces the Generalitat's forest firefighters to assume "a permanent overload of work, with more physical and operational wear and tear and greater risks to their own safety”: “Those who protect our mountains deserve an administration that protects them with more personnel, more resources, and serious planning”.

A "neglect" of public service

Likewise, Valencian socialists have recalled that 75% of the personnel deployed during the summer fires in Ibi and Teresa de Cofrents belonged to the Military Emergencies Unit and have highlighted that “the fact that three out of every four personnel deployed in major fires belong to an extraordinary state resource evidences the abandonment of the public fire extinction service by the Generalitat”.

Finally, Andújar assured that the budget planned for 2026 "does not guarantee a change of course either", as it is insufficient to increase staff, consolidate the third shift and fully apply the Forest Firefighters Law which recognizes rights such as hazard, toxicity and hardship supplements, in addition to developing the second activity and has claimed that "announcements do not put out fires, firefighters do, and what the Valencian Community needs is a Generalitat that executes resources, strengthens staff and stops putting an essential service at risk”.