The virulence with which the first wildfires are occurring in Catalonia this month of April, a time of year when experience tells us that if fires occur they will only be minor, is nothing more or less than the fulfillment of the worst predictions of what awaits us in the coming weeks if there is no let up in the exceptional drought affecting this land. Catalan fire department officials say that if it doesn't rain, we will reach a situation that has never been seen before, in which an outbreak of simultaneous wildfires could perhaps force a prioritization of where they have to go and an adoption of difficult decisions.
This weekend we had a preview, in what is an atypical April: a first fire that broke out in the forested area between Mequinensa, on the strip of Aragón that borders Catalonia, and the towns of Granja de Escarp and Seròs, slightly further north in the Segrià county, which challenged firefighters and rural agents all day on Saturday due to the strong winds that were blowing. In total, the number of hectares affected by the fire was nearly 500, mostly bush-clad. Then on Sunday, another fire originated in a wooded area of Cap de Perafita, between the towns of Cervera and Banyuls de la Marenda, in Northern Catalonia, and crossed the border from the French state at noon into the Alt Empordà, and was propelled by the tramuntana wind to the doorstep of Portbou without it being stabilized.
Although it is very possible that this week the first rains will occur in large areas of Catalonia, the best response at present, given the precedents of the last few months and the forecasts of the different meteorological services for this summer, is that we should not be deceived. A total of 224 Catalan municipalities are already applying water restrictions due to the drought alert decreed by the Catalan government and this affects a total of six million people.
This is at its beginning and after the municipal elections - right now, no one is about to give bad news that will end up having consequences at the municipal elections on May 28th - we will know the real extent of the drought measures for next summer and autumn. It is not at all difficult to hear talk in the offices of cuts in water supply, a measure that causes panic if it affects municipalities heavily dependent on tourism and with the August campaign already sold, and the July and September campaign better situated in previous years .
More than two weeks have already gone by since the failure of the summit against the drought called by president Aragonès and the political parties on March 31st. The main reason for public disagreement was the regime of fines affecting town councils, an issue that, no doubt, is important, but insufficient to not continue working for consensus given the lack of rain and the parliamentary minority status of the Catalan executive. Sitting around a table again would be the best news in the face of mutual accusations of partisanship.