US EditionSpain to Probe Whether Wildfire-Hit Towns Drafted Prevention Plans
Spain's environmental prosecutor demands verification of wildfire prevention plans amid record fires burning over 403,000 hectares, highlighting tensions between central and regional governments.
- Spain's environmental prosecutor ordered officials on August 21 to verify if wildfire-hit municipalities adopted legally required prevention plans amid ongoing fires.
- This action followed record-breaking wildfires burning more than 403,000 hectares since early August, surpassing the previous 2022 record of 306,000 hectares.
- The fires, fueled by low humidity and heatwaves linked to climate change, have devastated Galicia, Castilla y León, and Extremadura while exposing gaps in prevention efforts.
- Antonio Vercher emphasized that the severity of the wildfires was clearly linked to inadequate or ineffective preventative actions and called on prosecutors to evaluate the possibility of filing criminal charges.
- The probe may heighten tensions between Spain's central government and regional authorities responsible for disaster response under the country's decentralized system.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Spain to check if wildfire-hit towns ignored prevention plans
Spain's environmental prosecutor has ordered officials to verify whether municipalities affected by wildfires complied with their legal obligation to adopt prevention plans, according to a document seen Thursday by AFP.
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The Straits TimesSpain to probe whether wildfire-hit towns drafted prevention plans
MADRID: Spain's environmental prosecutor has ordered officials to verify whether municipalities affected by wildfires complied with their legal obligation to adopt prevention plans, according to a document seen Thursda
The Attorney General's Office specializing in the Environment and Urbanism has urged the provincial prosecutors of this area to "check" if the municipalities most affected by forest fires have prevention plans, as set out in the Law of Mounts of 2003.This is how it is stated in a letter, to which Europe Press has had access and which was forwarded last Monday to all provincial environmental prosecutors by Chief Public Prosecutor Antonio Vercher.…
The Public Prosecutor of the Environment and Urbanism Chamber, Antonio Vercher, has issued a petition addressed to all provincial prosecutors in which he points out that they must check whether the municipalities most at risk of being affected by forest fires have a prevention plan, and he invites them to initiate criminal proceedings against those councils that do not have one and, however, it is "unsaveable" to have one.
The coordinating prosecutor argues that in the most serious cases there may be “criminal responsibility” for those who have not approved these programs. Communities of the PP have withdrawn means or keep them inoperative while blaming the central government for failing to provide more. The Office of the Public Prosecutor specializing in Environment and Urbanism investigates whether the municipalities most affected by the wave of fires that is af…
Every summer it is common to see that fires raze much of the country’s vegetation. It is in this context that the debate arises about who has the competence to carry out forest fire prevention work and whether it is the communities or the central government that have to push plans along this line. The latest. The Office of the Public Prosecutor for the Environment is investigating a possible connection between the wave of forest fires and the ab…
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