After days of political bickering, and while waiting for Pedro Sánchez to specify what exactly he proposes in his State Pact against climate change, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is taking the initiative in the face of a"paralyzed" Government and presenting a "comprehensive plan" of 50 measures to respond to the "national crisis" of the fires and resolve the coordination and management problems that have become evident, as well as proposing other types of solutions. One stands out above all: establishing"objective and binding criteria" for the Government to intervene in an emergency and deploy its means and resources "ex officio and automatically."

This is, in essence, addressing one of the main problems that has arisen in this crisis. It has become clear that the Executive, beyond the UME, did not become involved in coordinating with other autonomous regions to provide their firefighting resources until the fifth day of the fires that broke out in Galicia, Castile and León, and Asturias. Similarly, the Army, beyond the UME, which intervened from the beginning, was not deployed until much later.

The second measure of the plan that Feijóo has emphasized is the creation of a national registry of arsonists with all those convicted of this type of crime in Spain and the implementation of the mandatory use of electronic bracelets for their immediate location. He explained this in an appearance at the national headquarters of the PP, where he explained that this entire package will be immediately registered in Congress.

Feijóo believes the government has been slow to act in this crisis and has accused the executive of"a lack of planning and prevention, and a lack of commitment in the early days of the fires." He criticized the executive for being "paralyzed" and "absent" at many times and has expressed a lack of greater effort to coordinate the arrival of regional and international resources to the affected areas.

He cited as an example that while Civil Protection was not in action, the arrival of the media was coordinated through the PP's"regional presidents' chat." He cited as an example the dispatch of resources from Madrid, Andalusia, and the Valencian Community.

Hence, one of the plan's key measures is precisely to establish when the Executive must be activated in an emergency. This is stated in the package presented by the PP leader:"To guarantee speed, coordination between administrations, and security for citizens, it is essential to establish objective and transparent criteria for the mobilization of all public administration resources, under the leadership of professionals with proven experience."

Feijóo emphasized that these resources also include the Army and insisted on how important it would have been to mobilize them much earlier. He also emphasized that"it cannot happen" again that the autonomous regions are left alone to coordinate with the others.

In this regard, Feijóo defended the presence of the affected autonomous communities in the CECOD, the crisis committee created by the Ministry of the Interior, since it is currently only considered once a state of emergency of national interest is declared.

Arsonist Registry

Regarding the national registry of arsonists and the imposition of"telematic bracelets, especially during the months of greatest danger of forest fires", Feijóo has recalled that since June the Civil Guard and the National Police have arrested 41 people for causing fires in one way or another and that another 127 are being investigated, according to official data provided by the Ministry of the Interior.

For the People's Party (PP), the government's response has been"slow and insufficient." Therefore, Feijóo explained, the main opposition party is putting forward a strategy to"immediately assist the affected populations, recover damaged towns and territories, and take preventive measures to protect the environment and better manage our forests."

The Comprehensive Aid, Recovery, and Prevention Plan for Rural and Forestry Environment, presented this Monday, includes another fifteen measures that have also been specifically highlighted by Feijóo. Several of them relate to the management and conditions of financial aid for citizens and businesses located in the affected areas, such as tax exemptions, interest-free financing, cash injections to recover livestock, and requests for solidarity grants from the European Union.

Among this group, one promise stands out:"No one will be left without their primary or secondary residence" because it has burned down. In this regard, temporary housing is also proposed for people affected by the fire.

Other measures include"promoting agricultural and livestock practices that contribute to forest maintenance and fire prevention in the CAP Strategic Plan in Spain" and "amending the State Forestry Law" to "make forestry use and forestry groupings more flexible, reduce woody fuels, and change forest use aimed at preventing and facilitating the extinguishing of forest fires, provided they remain within the agroforestry sector."

Although Feijóo intended to focus his appearance on the proposals, he ended up responding to the government, and specifically to Margarita Robles, in response to the Defense Minister's criticism of the PP's management of the autonomous communities. He expressed surprise at these criticisms and responded that both the Prime Minister and he had acted"late and reluctantly" in activating the deployment of the Army despite requests from Feijóo and the presidents.

Thus, he criticized the fact that there were available resources that the government"doesn't use" for surveillance, transportation, or logistical operations."But why haven't we used them?" he asked. Therefore, he concluded, a"regulated and scheduled coordination system" is needed to establish when the government should get involved and how.