The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has taken a break from her vacation and reappeared in one of the areas hardest hit by the Tres Cantos fire, which claimed the life of one person this week. Accompanied by the Minister of the Environment, Carlos Novillo, who commanded the operation in those critical first hours, she toured part of those devastated routes, with nearly 2,000 hectares burned, for which the Community will request declaration as a severely affected area for emergency protection.
"Meanwhile, on our own, what we're going to do is help the farms that have been seriously affected, especially a livestock farm that has lost dozens of sheep, and we're going to give them new livestock so they can recover their activity and, in turn, ensure they receive their CAP subsidies," Ayuso said, standing in the middle of a field where the smell of scorched earth still lingers. This is where last Monday, wind and fire unleashed chaos.
Among the regional government's intentions is to assist local councils with reforestation and recovery of the area, especially in Soto de Viñuelas, where some residents have lost their homes."We want residents to see this area return to what it once was in a very short time."
Ayuso pointed to the central government to provide aid to respond not only to the Tres Cantos fire, but also to those that have occurred in recent days in Aranjuez, Navalcarnero and Colmenar."There have been several areas in the region that have been severely affected, especially Tres Cantos, and that is why we will also request that aid."
As expected, the sharp tweets of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, also passed the regional president's filter."What we have to do is rise to the occasion, help, cooperate, save lives, protect. And then we can pass the bills. But I think that's not appropriate [the tweets]. Twitter should be left for another time and we should collaborate there and help now because the citizens have spent a few months there. For a while now, every time there's a catastrophe, we're more on Twitter, and now's not the time."
Nearly 2,000 hectares devastated
Ayuso insisted on the need to make all available resources available to the autonomous communities to combat the"unprecedented tragedy" Spain is experiencing due to the fires, after more than 100,000 hectares have been devastated."The fires belong to everyone, the natural heritage belongs to everyone, and the forests belong to everyone. Borders do not exist. We, for example, signed an agreement with Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha to act in some communities and in others without having to wait for bureaucracy to decide," she stated.
And he reiterated the current political issue."Right now we can't be more involved in politics than in politicking. Politics is for this, to provide solutions and to help between administrations. We are doing this with Castilla y León and Extremadura and with the regions that need it. We are suffering a political strike in Madrid and only in Madrid, but we hope that it will also end and that they are aware that this is not happening anywhere in Spain out of common sense," he added regarding the situation of the forestry brigades, who began the strike on July 15 and it has continued until today.
"First and foremost, we need to help all citizens, wherever they live, regardless of who owns the mountains, because they belong to the new generations. They have the right to inherit the same heritage that those of us here enjoy. And what we have to do is rise to the occasion, help, cooperate, save lives, protect. We'll have time to settle the score," Ayuso concluded, as she completed her route through the area where vegetation has given way to ash. The scent of a tragedy that, fortunately, was brought under control in time still lingers.
