The President of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has responded to Pedro Sánchez from Navalcarnero, where the coordination of the fire affecting three provinces is taking place. Ayuso has labelled the national agreement proposal on climate emergency as a “blunt tool” and blamed the lack of forest cleaning.
The President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has attacked the proposal from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for a national agreement on climate emergency. In a statement to the media in Navalcarnero, where the command centre for the fire affecting the provinces of Ávila, Toledo, and Madrid has been set up, Ayuso described the initiative as a “blunt tool” and questioned its effectiveness.
“This is not the time to offer blunt solutions to absolve ourselves of any responsibility,” the president asserted. Ayuso reviewed archives and recalled that the Government has been talking about climate emergency since 2014. “Well, 12 years later, if it is so urgent…,” she quipped, before asking Sánchez to explain how he plans to resolve the issue.
The Madrid president has focused on human action as the main cause of the fires. “What I am clear about is that we need to see which fires have been caused by human action, which we are seeing are the vast majority throughout Spain,” she pointed out.
Following this, Ayuso joined the theory that the lack of forest cleaning is one of the causes of the fires, an argument that has been widely circulated by far-right sectors in recent days. “Let’s listen to the people from the countryside, who are the ones who truly know what is happening in the forests,” she said, adding that the problems faced by rural landowners stem from “difficulties in cleaning the forests, in working on their own land.”
However, current regulations establish that it is the landowners who are obliged to carry out this preventive maintenance, without the need for a license except in protected areas. This myth circulated last summer during the major fires in Castilla y León, and it has now resurfaced with more force in the context of the fire affecting the Community of Madrid.
Denialist proclamations have also infiltrated Telemadrid, where several commentators have defended the theory of forest cleaning and blamed “fanatical environmentalists” for the fires. During a special news segment on the public television, the record high temperatures that the region breaks every year have been questioned, with statements like “It has always been hot in Madrid.”
Ayuso has also called for solidarity with Madrid and urged not to “blame those who have nothing to do with it.” “I don’t want to see scenes of blaming people who have nothing to do with it again,” she said, referring to the criticism the region has received for its management of the fire. The president has made a call for unity: “Everyone should not just look at their own patch.”
The fire affecting the provinces of Ávila, Toledo, and Madrid has mobilised numerous emergency services. From the command centre in Navalcarnero, the firefighting efforts, which are still ongoing, are being coordinated. Adverse weather conditions, with high temperatures and wind, complicate the work.
Meanwhile, the political debate has focused on the causes of the fires and the necessary measures to prevent them. Sánchez's proposal for a national agreement on climate emergency aims to address the underlying problem, but Ayuso believes it is a generic solution that does not take into account the particularities of each territory.
The Madrid president has insisted that it is necessary to act on the ground, facilitating the cleaning of the forests and supporting rural landowners. “Let’s listen to the people from the countryside, who are the ones who truly know what is happening in the forests,” she reiterated.
The fire has already affected hundreds of hectares and has forced the evacuation of several localities. Authorities are working to contain the flames and prevent them from spreading to populated areas. It is expected that in the coming hours the fire may be brought under control, although its evolution will depend on weather conditions.
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