The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has reaffirmed this Monday in his environmental policies in the face of the “climate emergency” that the planet is experiencing “translates into heat waves” like those of this last year, and “by extension, in large fires ” for which he has opted for environmental policies “to become “State policies”.
In an appearance without questions at the ‘ground zero’ of the fire in the Monfragüe National Park, in Casas de Miravete (Cáceres), the President of the Government assured this Monday that the fires that are taking place in Spain have an exclusive reason: ” The heat wave that has produced maximum temperatures, derived from climate change. Without mentioning at any time the complaints expressed in the last hours by those affected by this and other fires in the province of Cáceres, whose ranchers have denounced the lack of cleaning of the mountains and an environmental regulation based on the lack of grazing work and in general of work in the field, Sánchez referred exclusively to the behavior of aggressive actions against the planet as the determining factor of these.
In this sense, Sánchez has assured: “Climate change kills people, it kills assets, such as homes, businesses…” for which he assured his commitment to “double” efforts and “reinforce coordination between autonomous communities” and the State to launch a single civil protection system “with a unified command, how has it been done”, he said, so that it is “fully dedicated to extinguishing fires”.
To support this thesis of blaming climate change, Sánchez offered the following data: in this year 2020, more than 70,000 hectares have already been burned in Spanish territory, almost double the average of the last ten years and at the same time there have been eleven large fires, the same percentage as the previous section. For this reason, he assured that the energy crisis produced as a result of the war in Ukraine will not serve as an excuse to apply, even more so if possible, “the commitment to adapt to climate change” in what he considered “the climate emergency that the planet”, whose great examples are “these fires”.
Faced with this situation, the President of the Government has indicated, “we cannot deviate from our commitment to mitigation and adaptation to climate change”, since as he has highlighted, “all these waves of fires have behind them heat waves caused by the emergency climate that the planet is experiencing”.
Sánchez has also had a memory for all those who died during these days due to the heat wave, which forces us to “redouble our commitment to mitigation and adaptation to climate change”, for which he has called on all the administrations, to political forces and society that environmental policies become “state policies”, because they transcend administrations and transcend legislatures.
The President of the Government had begun his speech by recalling the figure of Daniel Muñoz Varas, a worker in the public fire operation who died while doing extinguishing work on the fire in Losacio, province of Zamora. Sánchez gave him as an example of the services of public employees who are fighting “in the front line of fire”, for which he claimed the “memory of him” from him.
For his part, Guillermo Fernández Vara reported that the residents of the ten towns evacuated in the last week due to the fires declared in the Las Hurdes region and in the municipality of Casas de Miravete, near Monfragüe, were going to return to their homes. throughout the morning. In an appearance format in which questions could not be asked, Vara pointed out that the Las Hurdes and Monfragüe fires are stabilized and admitted that “everything that is done in winter (to prevent fire) is probably not done well” . It was the only moment of self-criticism from him, although he indicated that “we will have to reflect (on these questions) when the summer is over.”
Vara, who could not be asked because of the alarm sounded more than a month ago by the mayors of the natural park area and the association of friends of Monfragüe about the lack of cleaning and clearing in the last three years , and that therefore the region was “a powder keg”, also alluded to “the fight against climate change” and “the enormous increase in temperatures”. Regarding the train that will be inaugurated this afternoon by King Felipe VI and by Pedro Sánchez himself, he stressed that “it is a small step, but an important one at the end of the day” for the development of railway communications in Extremadura.
The Extremadura Forest Fire Fighting Plan (Infoex) has declared the fires in the Las Hurdes region of Cáceres and in the municipality of Casas de Miravete, which have affected the National Park, as stabilized at 11:00 a.m. this Monday. of Monfragüe, before his “good evolution”.
In any case, both fires remain active at level 2 of danger, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Junta de Extremadura, which explains that once both fires have been declared stabilized, “the next step is to consider them controlled.”
For its part, the fire declared in the Garganta de los Infiernos area in the Valle del Jerte is still active despite its “good evolution”, and five ground units and four agents from the Natural Environment are working on it.
After declaring them stabilized, nine ground and five aerial units, heavy machinery and an agent from the Natural Environment are still working on the Casas de Miravete fire, while nine ground units are still working on the Las Hurdes fire.
A group of those affected by the fires, including ranchers who have lost their animals due to the Monfragüe fire, received Pedro Sánchez and Guillermo Fernández Vara with criticism at the Advanced Command Post in the Port of Miravete, where the press could not access , which had been located an hour and a half before the appearance at ground zero of the fire, about 15 kilometers from the command post. This command post is located throughout the weekend next to a service area, Ventilla del Camionero and a gas station, at kilometer 219. The journalists who were covering Pedro Sánchez’s visit could not access this area, and were located from the first moment where the President of the Government was going to appear, about 15 kilometers away.
At the gates of this service area, complaints were widespread. Among the protesters were the ranchers who suffered the loss of a mare, charred by fire, and several sheep, Carlos Grande and his father, Juan Carlos, Environment agent, as EL MUNDO published this Sunday. Together with a score of neighbors in the area, they criticized the president of the Junta de Extremadura, who was waiting for the arrival of Pedro Sánchez, that the region and, especially the national park, had not been cleaned or cleared for at least three years, as even mayors warned, such as that of Serradilla, who is from the PSOE, Javier Sánchez Vega, in addition to the association of friends of Monfragüe. “There has been a lack of coordination and cleanliness,” they repeated to Fernández Vara over and over again, also in the presence of several Civil Guard agents, who did not have to intervene.
The ranchers expressed to Fernández Vara all their indignation at what had happened, but always politely and without fuss, although when the president of the Board left he was dismissed with loud whistles. During the conversion, they blurted out phrases like these: “It’s Pedro Sánchez’s fault”, although another intervened at the same time: “From him and from the previous ones, from the right and from the left, from everyone, this comes from many years ago because they don’t let us do anything,” referring to the fact that they are also not allowed to graze in this nature reserve. The president of Extremadura endured the recriminations and left the place to receive the president of the Government, who was arriving at that time.
Conforms to The Trust Project criteria
