Sánchez Ends Political Year With Record Fires and No Budget
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faces criticism as investigators confirm human negligence caused the nation's largest wildfire, burning 50,000 hectares, while his government uses the crisis to advance climate measures.
According to Brussels Signal, the country’s fire season has devastated 172,396 hectares since January 1, 2026—six times the area burned during the same period in 2025. The environment ministry has recorded 35 large fires this year, compared to just 11 in the previous year.
The massive fire that ignited at Burgohondo in Ávila province on July 22 has consumed approximately 50,000 hectares, making it the largest wildfire ever documented in Spain. Civil protection services report that nearly 90,000 residents have been evacuated or confined across the Madrid region and the provinces of Ávila and Toledo.
Sara Aagesen, third deputy prime minister and ecological transition minister, told public broadcaster RNE that fire prevention falls under regional authority and cannot wait for fire season. She pointedly criticized governing alongside what she termed climate change deniers, referencing coalitions between the People’s Party (PP) and Vox.
Negligence, Not Climate, Started Record Blaze
The Guardia Civil, Spain’s national gendarmerie, traced the record fire to a spark from heavy machinery operating during a regional ban. Investigators determined the work proceeded without administrative permits and lacked required extinguishing equipment mandated by a 2013 regional order.
The operators were working in Castilla y León during a period when the regional government had explicitly prohibited machinery capable of generating fire in woodland areas. Officers classified the cause as serious negligence, leading to one arrest and a second person placed under investigation for a forest fire offense.
A separate blaze at Los Gallardos in Almería province proved deadliest, killing thirteen people in what became Andalusia’s most fatal fire in history. A 78-year-old man also died in a fire near Valencia on July 25. Investigators are examining whether a fallen power cable started the Los Gallardos disaster.
Climate Emergency Push Meets Political Resistance
Pedro Sánchez first proposed a state pact on what he calls the climate emergency on September 1, 2025, following the previous summer’s fires. He presented a 15-strand, 80-measure text on December 17, but no agreement has materialized.
The prime minister returned to his climate agenda on July 27, appearing with Aagesen to launch a national network of climate shelters. Spain activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on July 24, requesting aerial support. Greece and Italy each deployed two Canadair CL-415 amphibious aircraft, with Portuguese and Turkish crews joining subsequently.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijoo noted that Sánchez has called for comparable agreements in 2018 and 2022 without result. Cuca Gamarra, the PP’s deputy secretary for institutional regeneration, dismissed the executive’s efforts as marketing announcements. The party has refused to sign a pact framed around climate emergency language, instead pointing to a civil protection plan of approximately 50 measures it tabled in 2025.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal has blamed the fires on what he describes as the government’s climate fanaticism.
Budget Chaos and Housing Failure
The Congress of Deputies rejected the government’s deficit targets for a second time on July 23, with the PP, Vox, Junts per Catalunya and the Navarrese People’s Union combining against them by 176 votes to 166, with five abstentions.
The 2023 budget has now been rolled over for a third consecutive year, making it the longest-serving budget in Spain’s democratic history. Ministers maintain they can still draft a 2027 budget based on the fiscal plan agreed with the European Commission.
A housing decree negotiated with junior coalition partner Sumar was pulled from the July 27 cabinet agenda due to lack of parliamentary support and is not expected before September. Brussels Signal reports that the government had spent just 1 percent of money earmarked for housing in 2026 by the end of May.
The last cabinet meeting before the summer break is scheduled for July 28, 2026, to declare the burnt areas disaster zones. Corruption cases have continued to shadow Sánchez’s entire term in office.
With information from Brussels Signal
