Spanish politicians are accusing each other of being responsible for the damage caused by devastating fires. Disputes between the two major parties, the ruling Socialists and the conservative People’s Party, are boosting support for the far-right Vox in a country where flames have destroyed a record amount of land.
Almost 400 square kilometres have burnt in Spain so far this year according to the European Forest Fire Information System (only fires of more than 30 hectares are recorded). The summer of 2025 is already the worst in decades—with the fire season not yet over.
Though in terms of human casualties the toll from wildfires has not been as tragic as in some previous years so far, the damage is big enough for fires to become the number one political issue. Currently there are four fatalities and 44 injured people reported to be directly linked to the fires. Some 30,000 people were evacuated from areas hit plus there has been considerable material damage.
This year’s wildfire season has broken records not just in Spain despite a significant rise of EU funding used to support measures against forest fires. The recent report by The European Court of Auditors suggests that the money is not always spent effectively.
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Madrid against the regions
The fires have now become the subject of fierce political arguments between the Spanish central government, in which the left-wing Socialist Party (PSOE) has the largest representation, and the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP). It is the PP that administers the three regions in the west of Spain that have been most affected by the fires: Castile and León, Extremadura, and Galicia.
PSOE blames the PP for denying climate change and neglecting fire prevention policies at regional level. On the contrary, the conservatives attribute the fires mostly to arsonists and accuse the central government of not deploying enough firefighters and other forces such as the army.
It is unacceptable that the autonomous community is not the first one to be there and take responsibility in case of wildfires. – Ángel Víctor Torres, Spanish Minister of Territorial Policy
“The competent authority is the autonomous community, and it is unacceptable that it is not the first one to be there and take responsibility in case of wildfires,” said Ángel Víctor Torres, Spanish Minister of Territorial Policy. He is responsible for relations with the regions.
The conservatives disagree. Ester Muñoz, PP’ spokesperson, said that “When resources are requested to fight a disaster, the response of a serious government is to say ’Tell me where and when, and I will bring help to you.’ (…) Instead, PSOE just called us incompetent.”
From arsonists to conspiracy
When Alberto Núñez Feijóo, PP’s leader, has recently presented a plan of measures against wildfires, the most talked-about topic was creation of a ‘national register of arsonists’. The Socialists’ approach is fundamentally different: PM Pedro Sánchez proposed a plan against ‘climate emergency’.
Mr Sánchez’s call for a cross-party agreement to tackle the critical situation has received no support from his political opponents so far. On the contrary: not just PP, but also the far-right party Vox is apparently trying to use the topic for political gains.
Vox, whose support according to opinion polls has increased significantly over the past months, describes the central government’s policy as ’climate terrorism’. The far-right party claims that expanding renewable energy infrastructure on rural land like solar farms increases the likelihood of fires. It also advocates centralising the government, which would make Madrid solely responsible for coordination of firefighting.
Conspiracy theories are on the table, too. Hermann Tertsch, a prominent Vox politician and MEP (PfE) accused the central government to have deliberately started the fires in order to distract attention from its own problems like corruption. “Does anyone in Spain still beleives that Sánchez has nothing to do with the fires?” wrote Mr Tertsch on X.
