The Government of Cantabria and the Delegation of the Government of Spain have highlighted the coordination and improvement of means to combat and prevent forest fires in the autonomous community, one of the most affected in the country by this type of accident and which are of intentional origin in almost all.
In 2024, more than 700 forest fires were caused in Cantabria and almost 12,000 hectares were burned, according to provisional data from the regional executive. Likewise, during the past year, the joint work of the Cantabrian Government’s natural environment personnel and Civil Guard agents was key to the arrest of seven people for their alleged involvement in forest fires registered in the community.
These are the main data and conclusions of the coordination meeting between the two public administrations, in which the councillor for Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, María Jesús Susinos, participated; the delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego; the colonel head of the Command of the Civil Guard in the community, Antonio Orantos; the general director of Forestry and Biodiversity, Ángel Serdio, and Captain Rafael Vázquez, head of the Seprona.
Both the councilor and the delegate of the Government stressed after this meeting that the fight against this threat requires “coordination, prevention and a forceful response.”
Susinos has declared that the joint work “is bearing fruit” with more means and equipment of surveillance in the mountains, which are essential, he said, to identify and demonstrate these environmental crimes, which are subsequently “endorsed” by the justice system.
At this point, it has valued the work carried out by forest firefighters, environmental agents, technicians, emisorists, SEPRONA and the ROCA Group of the Civil Guard, along with citizen collaboration, on the way to strengthen the prevention and investigation of forest fires. “We are proud, but not satisfied because we all have to continue taking care of our environmental heritage,” said the councilor, after which she valued the training of regional environmental agents to strengthen legal certainty and improve the investigation processes of the causes carried out by the Civil Guard and which, subsequently, end in firm convictions for environmental crimes.
Susinos has also pointed to the agreement maintained by its department with the Ministry of the Interior to provide the Seprona of the Civil Guard with better means to agents in the fight against forest fires in the amount of 25,000 euros per year, and which is intended for the acquisition, for example, of drones and cameras, among other means.
For her part, the delegate of the Government in Cantabria has advocated “not to lower the guard”, since the community is, together with Asturias and Galicia, one of the most affected in the country and most of the fires “continue to have an intentional origin”.
“In the last two years, it has been possible to identify 50 alleged perpetrators of fires and there are already nine convictions,” said Gómez de Diego, who has also highlighted the strengthening of technological means “with more advanced tools,” thanks to the agreement between the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry.
“We have gone from 7 to 12 video surveillance teams, which allows us to demonstrate more accurately the authorship of the fires,” said the delegate, who also valued the joint work between SEPRONA, the Civil Guard, environmental agents and the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office.
Road safety and wildlife
On the other hand, the coordination meeting between the State and Cantabria has served to address the actions within the working group between both administrations to reduce the accidents caused by wild fauna on the roads of the community.
Councillor Susinos has pointed out that the constitution of this group was a pioneer in Spain and has highlighted the scope of the measures that have contributed to stabilize the figures and the problem, in the face of the increase of these accidents in other autonomies.
In the same sense, the delegate of the Government has said, who believes that this result “is not the result of chance”, but of the “coordinated work” between the Provincial Traffic Headquarters, the Civil Guard and the Autonomous Government, which “have strengthened signage in areas of risk, improved the management of fauna and made drivers aware”.
“Our commitment is clear: to advance the protection of the natural environment and strengthen safety on our roads with data-driven strategies, investment in technology and close cooperation between administrations. We will continue to work with determination to make Cantabria a safer and more protected territory against fires and other environmental risks,” concluded Gómez de Diego.