Spain’s far right gains as leading parties fight over fires

Spain has endured its worst wildfire season in 30 years, with nearly 400,000 hectares burned, sparking both environmental and political crises. The blazes have exposed tensions between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government (PSOE) and the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP), which governs the three most affected regions: Galicia, Castilla y León, and Extremadura. Disputes escalated into personal insults, with PSOE ministers attacking regional leaders for being absent during the fires, while the PP accused state officials of incompetence.

Amid the political quarrelling, the far-right Vox party has emerged as the biggest beneficiary. Vox leader Santiago Abascal used the fires to denounce Spain’s political establishment, describing the system as corrupt and detached from citizens. Vox rejects climate change as the main cause, instead blaming green policies, renewable energy projects, and neglect of rural traditions. It has demanded more centralised control over firefighting, positioning itself as the alternative to both major parties.

Sánchez has insisted that climate change is the root cause, urging a cross-party agreement on a “climate emergency,” but the PP dismissed this as a distraction. The crisis has thus become a battleground, with wildfires amplifying Spain’s polarised politics and fuelling Vox’s rise.

via Politico