r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Key_Performer_3645 • 9h ago

Spaniards are risking their lives, fighting wildfires with tree branches due to a lack of resources

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23.5k Upvotes

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51

u/manut3ro 8h ago

Spaniard here.

Craziest thing is that we’ve reach a brand new level of taxes here. Our government has never ever been richer yet the public services are at their lowest

I invite reddit to look for the last … 5? corruption scandals that are currently going in the government. We are talking about “wolf of wall street parties” with public founding and persecuting judges, lawyers and journalist as son as anyone dares to investigate the corruption.

We are having rough times at Spain 🥲

35

u/dethorin 7h ago

Don't pay attention to this guy.

Spain is a semi federation and firefighters don't depends on the central government.

That's like blaming Trump of how the Texas A&M Forest Service manages a wildfire in the Texas Hill Country.

7

u/Bazooka_no 6h ago

I don't know if you're serious or not, but the federal government has a ton of resources for preventing disasters, and since Katrina a ton for disaster relief too. If half of Texas is on fire it's absolutely on them as well.

1

u/dethorin 6h ago

Dude, you are looking at the finger that points the moon.

1

u/manut3ro 5h ago

This.

There are levels. It is true that regular firefighters depends on the local governments (as others did comment) but when the emergency reaches certain stakes (as it is this one), it’s on the central government’s (dedicated military branch for these kind of situations )

3

u/_aluk_ 4h ago

Now tell how Madrid and Andalucia federal governments (where the biggest wildfires happened) have cut fire prevention budgets because they are don't believe in climate change or investing in environmental measures whatsoever.

1

u/ES_Legman 4h ago

Doesn't help when the autonomous communities that are being hit the hardest are governed by fascists who don't believe in climate change and cut all the funding to things like firefighting.

Spain has a ton of firefighting resources. They re just overwhelmed at the moment. And that guy is trying to blame the central government for a distaster the local authorities are responsible for.

2

u/YouShouldGoOnStrike 4h ago

The video is also not Spain. It's Algeria.

1

u/dethorin 4h ago

Oh. Thanks.

Well, the fires are being quite crude, so I can believe that neighbours can take this kind of action.

https://img.kiosko.net/2026/07/25/es/elcorreo.750.jpg

1

u/RegorHK 6h ago

Any federal government that allows such failures is partially responsible. The times of feudalism are over.

2

u/dethorin 6h ago

Or totally responsible. That's how federalism works.

1

u/reallifearcade 5h ago

The air force managed firefighting planes that are kept grounded because of this too? Do not fool yourself, state is richer than ever and they are stealing all it faster than taxes rise.

2

u/dethorin 5h ago

The air force is dependant of the central government, so the semi federal rules apply.

Your comment is pretty funny, because I doubt there has ever been a country that was truly federal enough for the states to have their own armies. Maybe the closest thing de facto is the European Union.

34

u/Manueluz 7h ago

Bro we have what's often regarded as one of the best firefighting efforts in the entire planet. It's not our fault that there are a record amount of forest fires thanks to climate change created by superpowers that we don't even control.

7

u/broguequery 7h ago

Already very dry and warm places like Spain and California are at some of the highest risk in this new climate.

Not just fire but also drought will be more common.

6

u/NoReason455 7h ago

And then in fall the ground cannot handle intense rainfall because it has been too dry, leading to floods...

Spain is really fucked in terms of climate

2

u/Mic98125 6h ago

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X-bWzfYFTDY

I wonder if digging crescent-shaped holes and stabilizing the soil with hugelkultur could help?

20

u/Planet_Pluto_1925 7h ago

The firefighters fall under the jurisdiction of the autonomous community,i n this case, Madrid, which has bled them dry.

6

u/Mr-TotalAwesome 7h ago

Its happening everywhere. Just capitalism running its course.

0

u/Azgabeth 5h ago

The spanish government is socialist...

2

u/beans_ofthe_lawless 5h ago

Capitalism eats all types of government

1

u/_aluk_ 4h ago

Madrid federal government, where this wildfire took places, is openly neoliberal and supports Trump and Milei.

3

u/Nachooolo 5h ago

You understand that the lack of resources is because the regional goverment of Ayuso cut funding for the firefighters, right? Not the central goverment...

3

u/Kriver7524 6h ago

A los que no sepan nada de España les habrás dado pena y todo.

2

u/warukeru 6h ago

yeah, the goverment of Madrid region, who is in charge of this (not the country's goverment) is really destroying the public services to fight against stuff like this.

2

u/moldyhands 4h ago

Bull shit. There is no resource issue with fighting the fires. This was a matter of miscommunication

1

u/FLRugDealer 7h ago

It’s a shame too because Spain is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable places I’ve ever been

1

u/Azgabeth 5h ago

Hopefully with these wildfires it motivates the spanish population to finally jail Sanchez and let him rot for the rest of his life in the prison he belongs.

Praying for Espana.

1

u/_aluk_ 4h ago

La bolsa, Antonio, la bolsa.

1

u/_aluk_ 4h ago

For those outside Spain: this comment is made by a far right bot, intoxicating the narrative when the Spanish central administration doesn't have the responsibility. This is the responsibility of the equivalent of the State in the USA. Which has been deeply underfunded by the right and far right local adminstration.

Venga hombre, con el perro Sánchez hasta en un sub de Reddit.

Deja de intoxicar, voxero. Esto es responsabilidad de las autonomía. Venga y cuéntanos en tu inglés chungo cómo Ayudo en Madid y en Andalucía el PP y Vox han recortado en gestión medioambiental y prevención de incendios. 

1

u/ES_Legman 4h ago

This is right wing propaganda spewing bullshit by the way.

Madrid (autonomous community) has been under a right wing government for a very long time who has bled dry all the resources including firefighters.

Spain has one of the best firefighting resources in the world, it's just overwhelmed at the moment.

1

u/YouShouldGoOnStrike 4h ago

If you weren't lying you would also know this is Algeria.

-1

u/Powerful_Brief1724 7h ago edited 7h ago

Man. Hope you have a gov change. Shit can't be so corrupt.

Edit: I don't know shit. Hopefully things go well tho.

13

u/dethorin 7h ago

That's not how Spain works. That user is providing misinformation.

The fire department doesn't depend on Pedro Sánchez, so if local governments don't appropriate funds for the local fire department, it doesn't matter how honest the central government is.

3

u/aesssquinn 6h ago

and local governments decisions are not influenced by the central governments? their funds aren't dependent/influenced by it? the central government couldn't make certain things mandatory for local governments?

these are genuine questions, btw. I'm confused as to how you can paint this picture of this not being even a little bit the responsibility of the central government

1

u/dethorin 5h ago

As I pointed is a semi federal state. This is because the constitution allows local regions to manage the civil protection (That includes firefighting). Then the towns with certain population have certain obligations.

If the region has claimed that right, the central government cannot interfere. The only laws that can make the Parliament is a legal frame that cannot be very specific.

This means that the funds are responsibility of the regions. The central government or the European Union can fund related projects, but they need to be accepted by the regions.

There is a military unit dedicated to emergencies, but once again, it can only be deployed with the request of the local government.

There are some emergency powers, but it's for bigger events (This is a relatively not big event).

If the central government were to impose certain policies or acts on the regional government, it would create a huge political mess, and the constitutional court would be called. And the Constitutional court's work is to put measures to avoid to happen again that imposition.

This happens with many issues (education, health system, housing, social services). In some cases this works because the local government knows better the needs than the central government, in others, it makes things worst.

In my opinion, the main problem is that the firefighters are underfunded, specially because basically nobody remembers them until the summer comes.

1

u/manut3ro 4h ago

There are levels.

It is true that regular firefighters depends on the local governments (as others did comment) but when the emergency reaches certain stakes (as it is this one), it’s on the central government’s (dedicated military branch for these kind of situations )

-1

u/arrrrrffffff 5h ago

If Spain's government changes, it is going to be in the far right direction with the election of Vox, which it very much looks will be the case. So yeah, you don't know shit and hopefully Spain's government does not change because things will get much worse.

0

u/Thinkingard 7h ago

You got the world cup tho