The request for air resources that the regions of Castilla y León, Extremadura, and Galicia, all three from the PP, made to the Government on August 15 after Alberto Núñez Feijóo demanded that the Army be deployed beyond the EMU was so exceptional and sudden that it doubled the number of planes and helicopters for firefighting in the European Civil Protection Mechanism. Brussels has 26 aircraft for the 2025 fire campaign across Europe. The unprecedented request for resources ended up unleashing crossfire between the PP and the PSOE. The PP complained that same weekend that the resources had not arrived. The Director General of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, replied that the PP presidents had requested"impossible" and Elías Bendodo called her an arsonist."
The government of Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, which on the 14th stated that the regional government had"sufficient resources," went on to request, a day later, from a very long list, 20 personnel transport helicopters and 10 water-bombing helicopters. The regional government, headed by María Guardiola, in turn requested 10 amphibious aircraft and 10 light helicopters. The regional government, headed by Alfonso Rueda, made a general request for"all fixed-wing aircraft resources or helicopters available to the central government."
To give an idea of the scale of the resources requested by the PP regional presidents ―40 helicopters and 10 planes―, the Community Protection System, created in 2001 to strengthen cooperation between EU countries and improve prevention and response to this type of natural disasters, has 22 planes this year (Spain provides two of the 14 Canadair CL-415 planes to a fleet that also includes six Fireboss planes and two Air Tractor planes) and four helicopters, according to data from the European Commission. In addition, Member States can make voluntary, one-off offers for specific emergencies in other countries. This is what happened with two Chinook helicopters that the Netherlands offered to Spain in the wave of fires that have devastated more than 400,000 hectares in 15 days, concentrated in the provinces of Ourense, Zamora, León and Cáceres, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
On August 15, Mañueco also requested in writing from the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, 1,000 soldiers, 25 bulldozers"with drivers as experienced as possible in mountain combat," 15 tanker vehicles, and 15 forward command posts."In addition to these resources, it is necessary for the Government of Spain to request the arrival of new resources within the European Civil Protection Mechanism," the president of Castile and León added in his letter, which was sent at 10:52 p.m.
Half an hour earlier, Extremadura's Minister of the Presidency, Abel Bautista,"having learned of the activation of European aid"—a decision the government formalized in the early hours of August 12, when it declared a pre-emergency—transmitted a request for personnel to combat the simultaneous fires that the region had been experiencing"since August 11," which at that time had burned some 5,000 hectares in Llerena (Badajoz) and 4,800 in Jarilla (Cáceres). This fire would end up becoming the most serious in the region's history, having burned more than 17,000 hectares. In his letter, the Minister"urges that new resources be requested from Brussels, with the activation of the following resources for the autonomous community of Extremadura: 100 light trucks equipped with forest firefighters, 10 amphibious aircraft, and 10 light helicopters." Later, in another email, he insisted on the"deployment of operational resources, heavy machinery, and Army aircraft in Extremadura to assist in the firefighting efforts." He reiterated: "The mobilization of resources and equipment from Europe is required."
Two days later, on August 17, Feijóo accused the government of not having sought help from Brussels."We have been asking for days to activate EU aid for more air resources and the deployment of Army personnel and machinery. The government must stop always being late. I ask Sánchez not to let any more time pass and for the resources to arrive now," he posted on his X account, despite the fact that this was not the case. As an example, on the 16th, two Italian tanker planes provided by Brussels landed at the Matacán air base (Salamanca) to fight the fires. Earlier, on the 14th, two other Canadair planes supplied by France and with a capacity of more than 5,500 liters each arrived in Galicia.
The aerial resources deployed by Brussels to Spain in August also included four helicopters (two Czech Black Hawks and two Slovakian). Regarding ground equipment, three foot firefighters from Finland, Romania, and Greece were provided—the EU has eight such units, of which Spain contributes two—and three vehicle firefighting teams (two from France and one from Germany) out of the 17 existing units. Since July, the European system has participated in 16 fire emergencies, concentrated in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkans.
Dolors Montserrat, Secretary General of the European People's Party, once again blamed the government this Sunday for the severity of the fires of the last two weeks."In 2021, the Sánchez government requested 401 million euros from Next Generation for forest management and fire prevention, and 320 million euros are still needed to invest," she said. The Ministry of Ecological Transition states that the government has transferred 253 million euros to the autonomous communities for investment in prevention and firefighting. Sara Aagesen's department asserts that it has allocated another 149 million euros to the"modernization of all operational bases" of the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF) and the "modernization of the avionics of the Ministry's aerial firefighting operation."
