Beyond the Military Emergency Unit (UME), the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has asked Pedro Sánchez to mobilize the"operational and logistical forces" of the Army to help in the fight against the fire in the face of what he has defined as a "national crisis" that requires "extraordinary means" amid fears that "the worst is yet to come" in the second half of August and September.
During a visit to the forward command post in Palacios del Sil (León), accompanied by the President of the Junta of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, the opposition leader has asked the Government for conventional Army units to be incorporated in tasks such as the evacuation of populations, the provisioning of spaces where displaced persons are being housed when the authorities are overwhelmed or to help in the surveillance of the perimeters of fires.
In this regard, Feijóo highlighted the important work being carried out by the UME (Union of Military Units) in extinguishing the fires, but also demanded that the Army's operational and logistical forces be involved, as well as the ability to use the available equipment, specifically heavy machinery. Whether it's bulldozers, backhoes, amphibious vehicles, or aerial resources such as helicopters, for the rapid transport of brigades between communities or within the geographic boundaries of a region.
"It's clear that the UME is doing an excellent job, but we need more support and we need engineers in charge to make the heavy machinery installed and deployed in Spain available for firefighting," Feijóo emphasized, adding that the measure reflects an"extremely serious" situation.
"We're not at the end of the fire season, we're at the beginning, and with 100,000 hectares and several deaths, we can't imagine we'll be able to solve this with current resources. We need extraordinary resources," he emphasized. He emphasizes a measure he considers"essential" and considers it "well-considered" to prevent what might happen in the coming days and weeks.
Although the intervention of the Army is requested, Feijóo has clarified that in no case is he requesting that the Government declare alert level 3 and that, consequently, the Ministry of the Interior take command of extinguishing the fires, which he believes should continue to be in the hands of the autonomous communities because they are the ones who"best know how to tackle the fires."
"What communities need are resources and coordination of resources," he said, given that they are facing the"perfect crisis" due to the "tons of fuel in the forests" resulting from this year's abundant rainfall and current weather conditions.
In his statements to the media, Feijóo also questioned the government's involvement in this"national crisis" and its lack of foresight. For example, he wondered how it was possible that it took 10 days to request assistance from the European Union. It wasn't until yesterday that two French tanker planes arrived, after the Interior Ministry requested it the day before.
Similarly, he criticized the fact that the autonomous communities have to coordinate with each other, and that this morning was the"first time" that the affected regions "received notifications from the Ministry of the Interior requesting coordination of personnel between autonomous communities."
He has also insisted on the thesis that the Government has "fewer aerial resources" than in the previous campaign and, consequently, has insisted on the need for the third vice president and head of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, to appear to clarify the"contradiction" between what her documents say and the denial given yesterday by her department that they accuse the PP of giving "false" and incomplete information.
