Spain burns: fires, climate crisis and cuts. Capitalism fuels the fire.
Tens of thousands of hectares burned, evacuated towns, thousands of displaced people and forest firefighters denouncing institutional abandonment. The new wave of fires that hits the Spanish State is not a catastrophe “natural”: It is the result of the combination of global warming driven by capitalism, decades of disinvestment in prevention and extinction, and governments that prioritize military spending and private business over protecting life.
By Willow flower
A country surrounded by fire
Spain is going through one of the worst forest fire emergencies in recent years. The most serious outbreaks are concentrated in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid, Avila, Toledo, Guadalajara and Castellón. The Burgohondo fire (Avila) It is already considered the largest recorded in the history of the country, while the fires of Madrid and Toledo came to merge into a single front of enormous dimensions. On the whole, more of 77.000 hectares have been devastated and tens of thousands of people have had to be evacuated or confined. The magnitude of the disaster even forced the declaration of an emergency of national interest in several areas.. Even so, numerous fronts remain active and the risk of reactivation remains high.
The worst may be yet to come
Although some fires show a favorable evolution, Specialists warn that the situation is far from being controlled. The arrival of a new heat wave, accompanied by high temperatures, low humidity and wind, can reactivate apparently stabilized sources or generate new fires of extreme behavior. The so-called fires of “sixth generation”, capable of creating their own weather phenomena and escaping the control of extinction devices, They stop being an exception and become an increasingly frequent threat..
Climate change is responsible
Every summer they try to present these disasters as inevitable. They are not. The increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves responds to global warming caused by an economic model based on the massive burning of fossil fuels and the permanent search for private profit.. Large energy multinationals and the governments that protect their interests continue to promote a system incompatible with climate balance.
But climate change explains only part of the problem.. The other has specific political leaders. During years, The different governments from the PP to the PSOE have reduced investments in forestry prevention, forest maintenance, stable hiring of personnel and modernization of extinguishing devices. The logic of cuts and privatization also reaches emergency services. Vox cannot be expected to act differently since the extreme right is denialist.
In the Community of Madrid, chaired by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, These policies take on a particularly serious expression. While official propaganda talks about effectiveness, The workers themselves denounce structural deficiencies that put both their lives and the ability to respond to increasingly extreme fires at risk..
forest firefighters: “We feel abandoned”
In full emergency, Madrid forest firefighters denounce lack of professional recognition, labor breaches, Hiring problems and serious security deficiencies. The complaints indicate that their functions as forest firefighters continue to be not fully recognized., Contracts persist that do not respect the conditions promised after the oppositions and there continue to be deficiencies in equipment and protection.
The general feeling expressed by the group is of institutional abandonment precisely when their work is most necessary.. While they risk their lives to protect forests, homes and entire towns, many of those who fight the fire work with insufficient staff and working conditions that they have been demanding to improve for years.
When fire destroys a life
Behind each figure there are entire families forced to leave their homes in a few minutes., farmers losing years of work, small ranchers who see their livelihoods disappear and people who do not know if they will find their house standing when they can return. The drama does not end when the flames are extinguished. Then comes the loss of employment, the destruction of the environment, the psychological impact and uncertainty about reconstruction. Every fire reminds us that the climate crisis no longer belongs to the future: threatens the daily lives of millions of people today.
We need another policy and another system
The answer cannot be limited to lamenting a new tragedy every summer. It is necessary to demand massive investments in forest prevention, sustainable forest management, stable public procurement of forest firefighters, better working conditions, sufficient material means and scientific planning in the face of climate change. And of course, all financial aid and any other aid that was necessary for the victims. The resources exist. The problem is where they go. While European governments relentlessly increase military budgets and advance rearmament, They should put those billions at the service of protecting lives, ecosystems and infrastructure in the face of a climate emergency that is already causing immensely greater damage.
But even these measures will be insufficient if the root of the problem is not addressed.. An economic system organized around private profit, The competition between great powers and the unlimited exploitation of nature is incompatible with the survival of the planet.
Faced with capitalism that warms the Earth, destroys ecosystems and turns each summer into a new season of catastrophes, A profound social transformation is necessary that places human needs and democratic planning of the economy above the profits of a minority. Because the alternative is increasingly evident: or the system that is destroying the planet to the limit is changed, or that system will continue to destroy the very conditions to live in it. That is to say, the dilemma is clear: Socialism or Barbarism.
You may also interest you: “It's not the weather, It is capitalism: the denialism of “adaptation” and the dead that the working class puts”.
