The largest wildfire in Spanish history risks becoming a political liability for the center-right People’s Party ahead of a pivotal election next year.
Over the past five days, more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as massive blazes have torn across the regions of Madrid, Ávila, Toledo and Castellón. With temperatures set to push toward almost 40 degrees Celsius, the prognosis for even greater devastation later this week is grim.
While the central government has stepped in to oversee this national crisis, regional authorities have legal responsibility for many of the front-line sectors at the heart of the emergency such as the rescue services and forest management. The center-right PP, which controls 11 out of the country’s 17 regions, is now facing political blowback over perceived strategic failings.
At a national level, the PP is still topping the polls and is on track to take power in 2027, profiting from the web of corruption scandals ensnaring Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling Socialist Party.
