Spain Asks EU to Activate Solidarity Fund After Summer Wildfires Caused €3.5 Billion in Damage
Spain's Ministry of Finance sent a formal letter to the European Commission on October 1 requesting activation of the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to help cover the damage caused by the wildfires that swept across much of Spain this summer. According to the ministry, the fires began on July 9 with the blaze at Los Gallardos in Almería province and spread across the country, hitting Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha, the Community of Madrid, Castilla y León and Aragón hardest.
In its letter, the ministry put direct damage in the 14 affected regions at €3,545.57 million, with the estimated cost of eligible operations under EU rules at €190.68 million. The EU's EFFIS-Copernicus system estimates that the largest fires, including those at Los Gallardos, Orés-Cinco Villas, La Mierla, the Sierra Oeste de Madrid, Burgohondo and Navaluenga, La Vall d'Uixó and Niebla, burned more than 170,000 hectares in total.
The fires killed 16 people and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate or shelter in place. One blaze in the Sierra Oeste de Madrid and southern Ávila led the Spanish government on July 23 to declare a national-interest emergency for a wildfire for the first time in the country's history, and to request assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
The government considers that the disaster meets the conditions for activating the Solidarity Fund in its regional natural disaster category, and has also requested an advance payment. The European Commission will assess the application and set the amount of aid within six weeks of receiving it; the final decision to mobilise the fund rests jointly with the European Parliament and the Council.
(Source: Ministry of Finance of Spain)
Source: Ministry of Finance of Spain
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Un Kamov volando al atardecer sobre el Monte Aloya (20500289270).jpg。CC BY-SA 2.0 | Contando Estrelas，Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Un Kamov volando al atardecer sobre el Monte Aloya (20500289270).jpg. CC BY-SA 2.0 | Contando Estrelas, via Wikimedia Commons.
