Livestock farmers fear for their livelihoods as wildfires ravage Spain

MADRID

As wildfires swept through the countryside west of Madrid, livestock farmer Carmelo Ramírez loaded his truck with fodder and drove into the fire zone, determined to prevent cattle left behind by the flames from starving.

One of his business associates had called him in tears after flames swept through his farm on July 25 near Navas del Rey, a small town of around 3,500 people about 50 kilometers southwest of Madrid.

“They had lost the food, the fodder, the feed, the machinery and many animals,” Ramírez, president of the Union of Farmers and Livestock Owners of the Madrid Region (Ugama), told AFP.

His response was immediate.

“I said: ‘Come on, I’m taking the truck there. Let it be whatever God wants, but the animals must not die of hunger’,” he said.

Ramirez loaded his truck with fodder he had stored for his own cattle for the winter and crossed the fire-affected area, a journey he described as an “adventure” after having to convince police officers to allow him through roadblocks.

“It is a hellish image. You have to see it there to understand what has happened,” he told AFP.

“The animals had survived the fire, but they were going to die of hunger.”

Spain’s government declared a national emergency last week for the first time over wildfires that have burned around 75,000 hectares across the Madrid region and neighbouring Avila province.

The wind-fueled blazes have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and threatened the livelihoods of farmers and livestock owners, who fear losing their animals and their way of life.

The Madrid region is home to the bustling Spanish capital, as well as more than 300,000 hectares of agricultural land and around 3,850 farmers and livestock owners.

In these rural areas, cattle farms, goat herds, cereal fields and vineyards have all been affected by the spread of the flames.

With temperatures expected to rise from today in what will be Spain’s fourth heatwave of the summer, the interior ministry on July 27 suspended agricultural harvesting using machinery in the Madrid region and two neighboring provinces.

Authorities warned that machinery such as combine harvesters could spark fires through friction, overheating or contact between metal components.
Officials do not yet know the overall number of cattle and other farm animals killed in the wildfires.

Beyond the loss of livestock, farmers fear the impact of destroyed pasture needed to feed their animals, as well as the burning of barns, fences and other infrastructure.

Farmers said they understood that firefighters’ priority was saving lives, but warned that the impact on agriculture should not be forgotten.

“It seems we never learn,” said Angel del Valle, a cattle farmer in Colmenar Viejo, north of Madrid, the secretary general of Ugama.

A wildfire last year destroyed around 200 hectares of his land, but assistance often arrives too slowly, he said.

“It is forgotten, and then another year comes,” he said.

Del Valle warned that compensation payments often fall far short of farmers’ actual losses.

“They are minimal aid payments, far below what is really lost. There will be people who, if they do not have enough financial backing, will not be able to cope and will end up unemployed,” he said.

The fires have also revived debate in Spain over forest management, with farmers arguing that a lack of maintenance in rural areas can make landscapes more vulnerable to burning.

“We are forgetting that we carry out an essential and basic social role in maintaining the health of our forests and the whole environmental system,” Del Valle said.