Pedro Sánchez announces that the upcoming Council of Ministers meeting will approve the designation of areas affected by forest fires as areas seriously affected by civil protection emergencies

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the Council of Ministers will approve a Royal Decree-law to designate areas affected by forest fires as areas seriously affected by civil protection emergencies.

Sánchez has travelled to the area affected by the forest fires in Ávila. The head of the Executive - accompanied by the President of the Regional Government of Castile and León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco; the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska; and the Government Delegate, Nicanor Sen - visited the Forward Command Post in Navaluenga and attended the meeting of the State Coordination and Management Committee for the State Emergency Plan (CECOD), at which the progress of the fire was assessed.

Speaking to the media, and after once again thanking them for providing accurate information in the face of misinformation, the president praised the work of civil servants, as well as "the institutional cooperation we have demonstrated with all the regions affected by these emergencies", to which Castile-La Mancha was added yesterday due to the fire in Toledo.

In the specific case of Ávila, Sánchez praised the deployment of personnel by the regional governments of Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, Asturias and neighbouring Portugal.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, together with the President of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, and the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, attend the advanced command post meeting | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The president stressed that the priority is "to save lives and protect population centres" and warned that "there are still difficult hours ahead", although last night was "very positive" in terms of how the fire was developing. "Let's see how things unfold today", he said, and he reiterated his call for the public to exercise caution.

Taking stock of this summer's forest fires, Pedro Sánchez noted that "we have surpassed 150,000 hectares burned" - given that the figure rose from 130,000 to 150,000 hectares in less than 24 hours - with 32 major fires recorded so far this year; this represents a sixfold increase in the number of affected hectares compared to last year. For this reason, he once again called on all political, institutional, civic and social stakeholders to meet the demand - and fulfil the duty-of forging a major state pact to address the climate emergency.

Non official translation