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With wildfires continuing to pose a serious threat across Spain this summer, the Alicante Provincial Council has announced the results of a grant programme that will direct more than two million euros into forest fire prevention across roughly 100 municipalities in the province.

 

The funding comes at a particularly charged moment. A fire broke out beside the Torrevieja nature reserve just last week, and in late July Spain was battling multiple major wildfires simultaneously, with an emergency declared and more than 10,000 people evacuated. Against that backdrop, investment in prevention feels less like forward planning and more like an urgent necessity.

 

Magdalena Martínez, Provincial Deputy for the Environment, was clear about the reasoning. "Prevention is the most effective tool for protecting our natural environment, ensuring public safety, and minimising the impact of forest fires," she said. "With this significant investment, we are reinforcing the Alicante Provincial Council's commitment to local councils, providing them with the necessary resources to plan and implement actions that will make our forests more resilient and safer."

 

The money is split across two programmes. The first, worth €100,000, covers the drafting and revision of Local Forest Fire Prevention Plans and has already been taken up by 27 municipalities. The second, and by far the larger pot at €1.9 million, funds the actual implementation of those plans across 87 towns, once they have been approved by the Valencian Government.

 

The grants cover a practical range of work: maintaining forest tracks and approved trails that give firefighting equipment access to remote areas, repairing fire prevention infrastructure such as water pipes and observation points, managing firebreaks, removing diseased or damaged trees and maintaining agroforestry systems that act as natural breaks in the landscape.

 

Municipalities across the province are included, from the Vega Baja in the south to the Marina Alta and Marina Baixa in the north. Alcoy, for example, will receive funding to repair road surfaces, maintain firebreaks and improve hydraulic infrastructure at the Font Roja Sanctuary, while Alcoleja will use its allocation for vegetation management and firebreak maintenance.

 

The breadth of the programme reflects just how widespread the risk is, and how much work goes into keeping it in check before a fire ever starts.

 

Image: Alicante Bomberos/Instagram