The month of May has been the exception, the rains have given the firefighters some respite, but Catalonia has had more than three years of drought; In fact, last year 2022 was the driest since the 1950s, as recalled this morning by the Minister of Climate Action of the Generalitat, Teresa Jordà , coinciding with the start of the forest campaign, 15 days before what is usual.
Jordà and his Interior counterpart, Joan Ignasi Elena, have appealed to the public to become aware of the situation due to extreme weather conditions, at the presentation of the information campaign against the risk of fire, under the slogan “Foc off â€, aimed at young people. Elena has stressed that, in addition to providing more personnel (250 firefighters and 100 more forest agents) and more resources to the prevention and extinction bodies, another determining factor in preventing the spread of fires is citizen responsibility, since nine out of ten fires They are caused by human action.
At the origin of 96% of the fires of 2023 is the hand of man, be it due to negligence, an accident or, in the worst case, intentionally causing it. Only the remaining 4% respond to natural causes.
“The water in May has not changed the concept of the campaign, it has given us a few days of tranquility, but the world we live in is the same, reality is harshâ€, Elena added.
The forestry campaign, which involves an increase in resources, will last until September 30, 15 days later than in previous years.
“We have more forests than ever, very young forests with very high tree densities that have not been sufficiently managed, we have almost continuous plots of forest mass that in the event of fire are fire highwaysâ€, Jordà indicated. Trees stressed and weak due to the scarcity of water and the progressive abandonment of the rural world encourage a dangerous cocktail.
Since January, Catalonia has registered 2,766 vegetation fires, 11% more than during the same period in 2022 and 35% more than in 2021, with a total of 875 hectares burned up to May 28, the highest figure of the last decade.
