Extremadura refuses to apply fire-damaged land development law
Sunday, August 23, 2015 @ 1:10 AM
REGIONAL authorities in Extremadura say they do not intend to apply the so-called 'Mountains Law' which allows fire-damaged land to be reclassified for building on immediately, lifting the 30-year ban which has been in place since 2006.
Santos Jorna, head of environmental and agricultural affairs in the land-locked western region, is one of many Spaniards who believe the law change will open the door to unscrupulous developers causing forest fires deliberately, and will not permit building in any areas reduced to ashes for 30 years after the blaze broke out.
Residents in Extremadura are particularly wary of the new legislation after a massive inferno destroyed the Sierra de Gata mountain range just north of the city of Cáceres, leading to over 7,500 hectares of countryside being wiped out and thousands of local dwellers evacuated from their homes.
One of these residents has started a petition on Change.org, which has netted around 200,000 signatures.
Jorna has met with environmental groups such as Ecologists in Action and stressed that he intends to defy the national government and refuse to allow reclassification applications from potential builders.
“Not one square metre of land anywhere in the region of Extremadura will be built upon if it has suffered a forest fire in the last 30 years,” Jorna stipulated.
Greenpeace has differed from Ecologists in Action in its views on the 'Mountains Law', saying most forest fires are caused by negligence or mindless arsonists with nothing to gain from their actions besides the thrill of pointless destruction, and that it does not envisage an increase in forest fires caused by would-be developers.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com