Pedro Sánchez promises to "recover" the damage caused by the Ateca fire with "all the necessary resources"

ATECA (ZARAGOZA), July 20 (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has promised this Wednesday to "recover" the damage caused by the forest fire that began this Monday in the Zaragoza municipality of Ateca and that has already devastated 14,000 hectares of mountains, forcing the eviction of several municipalities.

Sánchez has visited a place located between the municipalities of Ateca and Moros, in the Community of Calatayud, after the fire reached proportions, this Tuesday, which led to the mobilization of more resources and the eviction of the towns of Villalengua and Moros, spreading during the night and also having to evacuate the towns of Alhama de Aragón, Castejón de las Armas, Bubierca, as well as the Villarroya de la Sierra nursing home.

The head of the central Executive has met with the president of the Government of Aragon, Javier Lambán, in the vicinity of Ateca, where the president of the Autonomous Courts, Javier Sada, former mayor of Ateca, the delegate of the Government, Rosa Serrano , and the mayor of Atecano, Ramón Cristóbal.

He greeted those responsible for the firefighting operation, which includes staff and media from the Government of Aragon, firefighters from the Zaragoza Provincial Council, Civil Guard, Military Emergency Unit (UME), Civil Protection, firefighters from the Zaragoza City Council and media from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Valencian Community.

Subsequently, he has visited an area affected by the fire. Pedro Sánchez has conveyed his "solidarity and appreciation to all public servants who are fighting the flames", lamenting the death of an agent in the Zamora fire, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León.

He recalled that there are many "those who are risking their lives on the front line to protect the residents of the affected towns", referring not only to the agents of the Public Administrations, but also to "important NGOs", among which has mentioned the Red Cross, for its collaboration in the evictions of municipalities affected by the fire and the psychological assistance they provide to the relocated neighbors, "with all the emotional burden that the loss of a home entails" due to the fire.

"On many occasions, citizens wonder where their taxes go," said Sánchez, stating that they are dedicated to "strengthening" the Welfare State, citing the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed "how important it is the national health system", also in the case of "such adverse phenomena", such as forest fires, "when we want public servants to have all the material and guarantees to do their job effectively and safely".

The President of the Government of Spain has highlighted the value of "inter-institutional cooperation", pointing out that all public administrations are involved in extinguishing the fire in Ateca and has announced the increase in the number of members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), which they will be duplicated, up to 208 components, to which are added 34 military vehicles in total.

Sánchez has defended "transversal policies, which involve the entire State", such as the National Fire Response Plan, which concerns 12 ministries. The General State Administration is involved in the extinction of 83 percent of forest fires throughout Spain, he has pointed out.

The head of the central Executive has recalled that in the recent Debate on the state of the nation he advanced that the Government would approve a general framework for the labor recognition of all people who are dedicated to firefighting.

On the other hand, he has summoned to reflect on the climatic emergency, indicating that until this month of July more than 70,000 hectares of land have burned in Spain, twice as much as in each year of the last two decades, and this year they have already been counted. 11 major fires, almost twice as many as in the last decade, to which are added the two heat waves recorded in the last four weeks, with temperatures above 40 degrees during the day and 25 at night, with wild soils at more of 30 degrees, data that scientists predicted for 2050 and that is produced this year, 2022.

"Therefore, the climate emergency is a reality, climate change kills people, is lethal to our ecosystems and poses a challenge to people and localities in rural areas", said Sánchez.

In political terms, he assured, this situation "means that we have to take seriously the fight, mitigation and adaptation to climate change", which requires "making environmental policies State policies, outside of partisan struggles" since " It has nothing to do with ideology.

He has claimed "policies that unite, not divide", which requires "putting inter-institutional cooperation before other considerations." In addition, he has asked citizens to act with "caution", recalling that in the last heat wave more than 500 deaths have been recorded throughout Spain due to the effect of heat.

The President of the Government of Aragon, Javier Lambán, has trusted this Wednesday that the balance of personal lives after the Ateca fire is "exactly" zero, stressing that everything else "has a remedy." He has visited the area together with the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.

Lambán has said that Sánchez "is very attentive and very careful" with the autonomous community when catastrophes of this nature occur, such as fires or floods.

He commented that during the afternoon there could be "complications" in the fire and highlighted the deployment of means by the Public Administrations to extinguish it because "it is better to sin by excess than by default", after which he stressed that the mayors and councilors "are the main development agents of the territory and when the occasion arises they are absolutely fundamental", as in this case.

Lambán has indicated that the mayors "have not slept a wink tonight" and has praised the City Council of Calatayud, which has welcomed the people who have had to leave their towns.

"We are not owners of the designs of nature, much less of the weather, but we are responsible for the proper use of resources and for saving lives and protecting the inhabitants of the towns," he asserted.

For his part, the mayor of Ateca, Ramón Cristóbal, thanked the work of all the members of the firefighting teams and also the population of the area who have selflessly collaborated to put out the fire and care for the evacuees. "This shows the solidarity of the people of this land for all catastrophes," he argued.