Wildfires that have swept across Spain this summer are piling pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is already reeling from a string of corruption allegations against members of his inner circle.
The twin crises have intensified disputes between Sánchez’s Socialist minority government and the conservative Popular Party (PP), which governs many of the regions hardest hit by the fires.
Blazes have destroyed more than 415,000 hectares, mostly in August, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, marking a new annual record since reporting began in 2006.
Four people have died and thousands have been evacuated because of this month’s fires.
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The Socialists blame the PP for failing to implement effective fire prevention policies and for playing down climate change.
READ ALSO: How Spain’s deadly wildfires have ignited a political blame game
The PP points to arson as the cause of the fires and accuses the central government of withholding resources, including enough military support.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has proposed creating a creating a national registry of arsonists.
But government minister Ángel Victor Torres insisted on public television on Wednesday that regional governments were responsible for disaster response.
“The opposition leader shows up and points fingers instead of helping,” he said, referring to the proposed arson registry.
Defence Minister Margarita Robles said many PP-led regional governments had “failed to act”.
“When there has been no investment in prevention, it is not enough to say, ‘The army will arrive,'” she told radio station Ser.
READ ALSO: 6 reasons why Spain’s wildfires are so bad this year
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‘Incompetent’
PP spokeswoman Ester Muñoz countered, accusing the government of scapegoating.
“The response of a “serious government should be ‘where and when do you need resources’ and not that local authorities are incompetent,” she said.
The political debate mirrors the controversy that followed deadly floods in October 2024 in PP-governed Valencia.
The row comes as Sánchez’s political standing has taken a hit from several investigations into alleged corruption among his inner circle.
His wife, Begoña Gómez, has been ordered to appear in court again in September for questioning into alleged embezzlement of public funds.
Sánchez has dismissed the allegations against his wife — which are related to her past job at Madrid’s Complutense University — as an attempt by the right to undermine his government.
EXPLAINED: The five corruption probes troubling Spain’s PM
The prime minister’s former right-hand man, Santos Cerdán, was detained in June in an ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks for public contracts.
And his younger brother, David Sánchez, has been under investigation since 2024 for alleged embezzlement, influence peddling and tax fraud.
Sánchez’s minority government is propped up by smaller regional parties and it has struggled to pass legislation or even a budget.
Feijóo has dismissed Sánchez as a “zombie” head of government because of his difficulty in passing laws and called for an early general election.
