The Canary Executive joins several regions to demand a real negotiation from Sánchez on natural risk prevention. Councillor Zapata criticises unilateral announcements.
The Government of the Canary Islands has taken a step forward in demanding a major state agreement against wildfires. The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy has joined a joint declaration from several autonomous communities calling on Pedro Sánchez's Executive to open a real negotiation to achieve a National Agreement for Prevention, Coordination and Response to Natural Risks.
The document, signed by a group of autonomous regions, advocates for a comprehensive strategy that combines climate change mitigation with adaptation, prevention, forest management, civil protection, hydraulic planning, and true co-governance among administrations. The signing communities remind that months ago they presented a joint proposal to the central Government with concrete measures that have not yet been subject to negotiation.
The Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy, Mariano Hernández Zapata, has been blunt: "Canary Islands fully shares the need to reach a major national agreement against climate risks. But it is difficult to talk about a pact now when the autonomous communities have been presenting concrete proposals for months without receiving a response. Spain needs fewer unilateral announcements and more real agreements, because pacts are not built by requesting adherence to a pre-prepared document, but through dialogue, negotiation, and co-governance among all administrations."
The archipelago knows firsthand the importance of anticipating the effects of climate change. Zapata has emphasised that protecting the population and natural heritage in a territory especially vulnerable like the Canary Islands requires investing in prevention, forest management, planning, and response capacity throughout the year, not just in the months of highest risk.
"The fight against climate change requires continuing to advance in emission reductions, but also strengthening adaptation policies," the councillor insisted, recalling that the regional Government is already promoting a permanent prevention strategy with the strengthening of firefighting devices, the approval of the new Forest Plan for the Canary Islands, and the promotion of active forest management.
The joint declaration considers that a true national pact must be built through a negotiation process among administrations, with a sufficient economic memory, coordination and monitoring mechanisms, as well as the corresponding parliamentary support. Among the specific requests is the urgent convening of the Sectoral Conference on the Environment to open that dialogue process.
Zapata has reiterated the willingness of the Government of the Canary Islands to contribute to that agreement: "Our will is to collaborate and build useful agreements. That is why we support the opening of a real negotiation that allows Spain to have a shared strategy, with sufficient funding, clear objectives, and effective coordination mechanisms among administrations. Citizens need effective responses to risks that are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, and those responses can only be built through institutional cooperation."
For the Canary reader, this pact is not a distant matter. The archipelago suffers every summer from the threat of large wildfires, like those experienced in Tenerife in 2023, which devastated thousands of hectares. Prevention and forest management are key to avoiding tragedies like that, and the regional Government demands that the central Government spare no resources or coordination.
The joint declaration also stresses that co-governance must be real, not just on paper. The autonomous communities are responsible for firefighting and prevention, but they need financial and logistical support from the State, especially in a climate change context that multiplies the virulence of wildfires.
Meanwhile, the Canary Islands continues with its own strategy. The new Forest Plan, investments in territorial resilience, and the reinforcement of firefighting devices are the tools with which the regional Executive aims to face a summer that, according to experts, will be particularly challenging.
The ball is now in the court of the Government of Spain. The convening of the Sectoral Conference on the Environment would be the first step to open a negotiation that the Canary Islands hopes will not remain just an announcement. Citizens, says Zapata, need effective responses, and those responses can only come from institutional cooperation.
The next appointment will be the sectoral conference, whose urgent convening has been requested. There it will be seen whether the central Government is willing to sit down to negotiate or if, as the communities denounce, it prefers to continue making unilateral announcements without consulting those who actually manage the territories.
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