Asturias approves the 2027 fire plan with 520 firefighters

The Regional Ministry of Mobility, Environment and Emergency Management has approved the Annual Plan for the Prevention, Surveillance and Extinction of Forest Fires of the Principality of Asturias for the year 2027, by resolution of October 28, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) no. 211, of October 30, 2026 (Code 2026-09013). The plan establishes the human and material resources for the campaign, actions regarding water points and defense infrastructures, and the territorial distribution of aid to councils, rural parishes, and forest owners for the entire calendar year 2027.

The preparation of the document responds to Article 48 of Law 43/2003, of November 21, on Forests, and to the common guidelines approved by Royal Decree 716/2025, of August 26, while Article 59 of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 3/2004, of November 23, on Forests and Forestry Management assigns the competence to the sectoral ministry. The text was favorably reported by the Forestry Council of the Principality of Asturias at its meeting on October 26, 2026, and is signed by the regional minister Alejandro Jesús Calvo Rodríguez.

The resolution includes a second relevant agreement: to extend the validity of the 2025/2026 campaign plan, approved by resolution of October 21, 2025 (BOPA no. 207, of October 28, 2025), until December 31, 2026. The new plan is aligned with the Comprehensive Strategy for the Prevention and Fight against Forest Fires in Asturias (EPLIFA 2026-2030).

A deployment of 520 personnel and two helicopters

The catalog of resources of the Emergency Service of the Principality of Asturias (SEPA) for 2027 includes:

• 520 personnel including shift leaders, firefighter-drivers, firefighter-rescuers, and specialist assistants, in addition to 13 commanders, 2 firefighter technicians, and 2 mechanic-supervisors.
• 19 fire stations and an emergency network with 13 repeaters.
• 39 forest fire engines, 8 water tenders, 23 patrol all-terrain vehicles, 44 personnel vehicles, 55 motor pumps, 106 chainsaws, and 64 brushcutters.
• 2 AS350B3+ helicopters and bases in La Morgal, Tineo, and Linares, with eventual helipads in Cangas de Onís and Grandas de Salime, in addition to the drone service.
• 140 brigade personnel assigned to the 35 territorial lots of the surveillance and extinction support contract.

To this are added the teams from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge: three EPRIF teams (Tineo, Cangas de Onís, and Central Asturias) and the BRIF of Tineo, with 62 people on staff and a new base at the La Curiscada airfield financed with more than 4.2 million euros.

Firebreaks, tracks, and water points

The plan details the planned preventive actions, including the opening and conditioning of firebreaks in Ibias (194,000 euros, 173.93 hectares) and in the Central and Northwestern zones, the repair of tracks in councils such as Belmonte de Miranda, Valdés, Allande, Taramundi, or Sobrescobio, and reforestation and forestry in Boal, Tineo, Piloña, and Valdés.

For the maintenance of water points, 100,000 euros are reserved for the cleaning of intakes and tanks, clearing of access roads and perimeters, and the maintenance of pipes and buoys. In 2027, work will also be carried out in 14 land consolidation zones for forest lands, 5 of a private nature and 9 through ordinary procedure.

Five million for the wildland-urban interface

Aid to municipalities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants for prevention tasks in the wildland-urban interface strip totals 5,000,002 euros, with amounts ranging from 31,519 euros for Noreña to 207,884 for Cangas del Narcea, and includes the maintenance of hydrants and water points. To this are added 2,250,000 euros for municipal defense actions and 441,495 euros for rural parishes, in addition to 800,000 euros charged to the EAFRD in grants to individuals and companies.

Regarding prescribed burns, the document records 9 authorized burns totaling 64.86 hectares and announces a pilot program for the Picos de Europa National Park, which will cover Amieva, Cangas de Onís, Onís, Cabrales, Peñamellera Alta, and Peñamellera Baja. Surveillance will include at least two weekly inspections of power lines and the support of seven drones from the Environmental Agents Service.

The 2025 precedent

The plan justifies its design based on the events of the summer of 2025, when 279 fires and 215 spot fires were recorded, twelve of them exceeding 100 hectares and two classified as Large Forest Fires, with 3,589.86 hectares affected. The document emphasizes that for the first time, cross-border fires from the province of León reached Asturias and that 61% of the Asturian forest area is privately owned or of unknown ownership, which conditions preventive management.

The approval comes while the final 2027 budget is still not closed, so the plan itself warns that the actions are a forecast and may vary depending on the drafting of projects, tenders, and budget availability. For rural municipalities, firefighters, and forest owners, the document is the reference that organizes the campaign: it determines which resources are deployed, which strips must be kept clean, and with what money the work in each council will be financed.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 211, of October 30, 2026, section I (Other Provisions), page 1 (official reference: Code 2026-09013).