Since its creation following the eruption of the La Palma volcano, the portal has geolocated over 257,000 properties and 120,000 constructions affected by natural disasters.
The College of Registrars of Spain has updated the data of the Emergency Registration Portal, a tool launched after the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano in La Palma in 2021. According to Luis Manuel Benavides Parra, member of the Environment and Graphic Bases of Registrars, the portal has published to date 67 environmental emergency events, which have affected nearly 590,000 hectares across the national territory.
Of those hectares, just over 257,000 registered properties have been geolocated and more than 120,000 affected constructions have been identified. Since June 8, nine wildfires have been added, including those in Cinco Villas in Aragón, La Mierla or Selas in Guadalajara, and Brieva in Segovia. Benavides Parra warns that these figures will increase exponentially in the coming days, due to the wildfires ravaging provinces such as León, Ciudad Real, Huelva, Ávila, or the Community of Madrid, which have already burned between 21,000 and 24,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of nearly 87,000 citizens.
The portal was born from the ashes of the Tajogaite volcano, with the aim of providing affected citizens with an agile and visual means to check if their registered property was affected by a disaster. The tool allows obtaining registration information about the property to assert legal ownership before insurance companies, the Insurance Compensation Consortium, or public administrations in aid or reconstruction processes.
The operation is simple: once the European Union's Copernicus satellite system publishes the graphic area of the affected zone, the Graphic Bases Service of the College of Registrars activates the portal, determining the affected registration districts. Based on that graphic, a geolocation program of the registered properties is launched, identifying which ones are within the emergency area and publishing them on the portal.
The usefulness of the portal was already recognized during the eruption of the La Palma volcano and the floods caused by the DANA in November 2024. At that time, the data allowed determining that more than 60,000 homes were affected. Furthermore, the information generated has been used to prepare reports on the environmental impact in areas of special interest, such as the Natura 2000 Network, public utility forests, wetlands, or urban areas. These reports can also be prepared in advance to support public prevention policies.
Benavides Parra has reminded that registrars are part of society and that their closeness to towns and the countryside makes them particularly sensitive to these situations. He pointed out that, although the current effort must focus on controlling and extinguishing active fires and minimizing damage, once the emergency is over, the time for recovery will come, and that is where the Emergency Registration Portal fulfills its function.
For the Canary Islanders, this tool is particularly relevant, as it was born precisely from the experience of the La Palma volcano. Property owners in the islands affected by fires or other disasters can consult the portal to find out if their property is within the delimited area and obtain the necessary documentation to process aid or insurance claims.
The College of Registrars has reiterated its support and solidarity with all those affected by the fires and other emergencies, and has made this free and accessible tool available to citizens through its website.
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