"Spain has the best fire-fighting resources, according to the European Commission", says Isabel García Tejerina

In her speech, Isabel García Tejerina said that Spain has the best fire-fighting resources in the European Union, something acknowledged by the European Commission itself on Tuesday, 17 October. Over the weekend, the Government of Spain tripled its water dropping capacity when compared with normal levels at this time of year. Nonetheless, the Spanish minister explained that "we are prepared for fires, not for arsonists". "This is not a resource shortage problem but rather one of criminality", she added.

The Spanish minister went on to say that the Government of Spain collaborated with the autonomous regions of Galicia, Asturias and Castile and Leon from the moment assistance was requested and provided all material and human resources necessary to extinguish the fires as soon as possible. "We have been involved in preventing and now extinguishing these fires, and we will be there to help repair the damage", she said.

At any event, Isabel García Tejerina clarified that the fire-fighting resources were not facing the uncontrolled spread of wildfires this weekend but rather multiple small fires that were "intentionally started" with blatant awareness and knowledge of what was being done in order to cause considerable damage.

In this regard, the Spanish minister called on society to "have zero tolerance for this sort of criminal action". Every effort is now being made to identify and arrest the criminals "who have caused so much damage".

Forestry Policy of the Government of Spain

Furthermore, Isabel García Tejerina stated that the Government of Spain has improved the working conditions of the Wildfire Reinforcement Brigades (Spanish acronym: BRIF) in recent years by increasing their working hours and allocating them to prevention tasks.

Among other measures, the Spanish minister mentioned the almost 20% increase in the budget allocated to fire-fighting activity when compared with 2011, the increased material and human resources, and the incorporation of new fire-fighting technologies, as well as the support for forest restoration actions.

Isabel García Tejerina also explained that the Government of Spain is implementing a genuine forestry policy by approving the Socio-economic Stimulus Plan for the Forestry Sector in the previous legislature and the Forestry Action Plan that includes the preparation of a National Wildfire Prevention Strategy.

Furthermore, Isabel García Tejerina recalled that the Government of Spain has toughened legislation in order to combat fire-related offences by increasing penalties, establishing economic repercussions from the damage and considering them as environmental offences when significant environmental damage is caused.

Non official translation