Adrián Barbón, well known for his activity on Twitter, has dedicated his account to informing about the situation of the more than one hundred fires that ravage Asturias in what he describes as an "authentic regional attack". "They, the ones who set fire, are responsible," accuses the president, "they are fire terrorists, who put the lives of people and our towns at risk." However, both environmentalists and farmers blame his management for what is happening this and many springs in Asturias.
Asturias adds 95 forest fires this Saturday, most of the fires will be reviewed throughout this morning to determine their status.
"Although the Government of the Principality is not the one that lights the fuse, it is putting all the means to make Asturias burn." This is how the Asturias Ganadera association understands it, which is once again in the spotlight. Along with them, although for very different reasons, environmentalists also point to the regional government for what is happening. The spokesman for the Ecologist Coordinator of Asturias, Fructuoso Pontigo, believes that the administration "has provided all the facilities for farmers so that the region is the only one in Europe where burning is free." And he explains it. The Forest Law approved in 2017 allows the burned areas to be used for pasture immediately, and also that burned land, unlike what happened with the previous Common Agricultural Policy, points out Pontigo, is not subtracted from the land for which they receive subsidies .
Xuan Valladares, from Asturias Ganadera, defends this measure because "it is logical" that they are allowed to graze shortly after a piece of land burns. "Otherwise, if cattle were not brought in to eat the scrub shoots, the weeds would return in less than a year. In addition, the animal feces serve as fertilizer and the land regenerates faster," he insists, arguing that extensive cattle farming "is not the cause but the solution to the problem of fires".
But it is the only progress achieved, says the livestock spokesman, because, with its policy, the Asturian Government has led to what he calls "illegal burning", which, he points out, is not the same as a forest fire. "These are burns made by those who need grass, I kill each other because the administration does not clean, nor does it let you clean, and so what do the cattle eat?" The administration's solution to these "illegal burns" has been controlled burns. They are "advance", but the ranchers say, they are insufficient".
Valladares assures that the farmers are not behind the wave of fires that are devastating Asturias. "What burns is the mountains, let the president wonder why so much eucalyptus and pine have been allowed to be planted and not native trees, which take twice as long to burn." He does acknowledge that on occasion an "illegal burning" can end in a forest fire, "because someone has gone too far, but I don't think that is the case. The area that is burning is of no use to anyone." And he wonders "why is Naranco burning, where there are only chalets?" «Because there are people for everything, even those who burn with quarrels with neighbors or even out of spite with the administration. When the fire goes out, we will see how much area for livestock use was burned and then the president will have to give explanations.
Shortly before the fires, more than a dozen environmental groups published a manifesto to request the resignation of the Minister of Rural Affairs, Alejandro Calvo, for his policy against fire. They regretted every year the same thing happens. "The snow season ends, the cattle come down and the fire starts, it is cyclical." The Superior Prosecutor of Asturias, María Esther Fernández, admits it: "If we superimpose the map year after year of the fires in Asturias, the areas and times almost coincide." And she remembers that every year more than 80% of the fires in the region are intentional.
To all this is added the problem of the group that fights against fire. The guards have been denouncing for some time that sometimes they don't even have anything to refuel with and that their vehicles spend months damaged. The firefighters had already called a strike starting Monday. His claim comes from afar. Personal foul. Her spokesperson, Nati Canto, wondered these days how many small fires get out of control because personnel do not go to extinguish them. "What happens if one day you have 20 fires and you only have 15 to extinguish. Well, if the same weather conditions continue, the next day you will have 30." They denounce that this week with an alert level 2 they had the same number of troops. Environmentalists go further and say that this level was not activated on time despite there being more than 20 fires, because that meant paying more staff.
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