Castilla-La Mancha approves direct aid for agricultural holdings damaged by fires

The Governing Council of Castilla-La Mancha approved Decree 50/2026, of September 15, which regulates the direct granting of aid to holders of agricultural holdings to alleviate damages caused by certain forest fires in areas declared as severely affected by a civil protection emergency. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha (DOCM) no. 181, of September 21, 2026, with the call for applications summary identified as BDNS 930178. The decree enters into force on the day following its publication.

The starting point is the Agreement of the Council of Ministers of July 28, 2026, which declared several fires as areas severely affected by a civil protection emergency, whose evolution forced the confinement and evacuation of municipalities and population centers. The text is signed by the president of the Junta, Emiliano García-Page Sánchez, and by the counselor of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Julián Martínez Lizán, and is supported by article 22.2.c) of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003, of November 17, and article 75.2.c) of the Recast Text of the Treasury Law of Castilla-La Mancha.

The statement of reasons emphasizes the exceptional nature of the disasters: the La Mierla fire (Guadalajara) is the largest by scorched area in Castilla-La Mancha, and the Burgohondo-Almorox fire prompted the first declaration of emergency of national interest due to a fire, on July 23, 2026. The fires of Hinojosa de Calatrava, Selas, and Retuerta del Bullaque reached the category of large fire, with more than 500 hectares of forest area affected.

The five zones included in Annex I

• IF Hinojosa de Calatrava: 849 hectares, Ciudad Real, started on 07/15/2026.
• IF La Mierla: 36,251 hectares, Guadalajara, started on 07/16/2026.
• IF Selas: 3,038 hectares, Guadalajara, started on 07/21/2026.
• IF Burgohondo-Almorox: 66,331 hectares, Ávila-Toledo, started on 07/22/2026.
• IF Retuerta del Bullaque: 949 hectares, Ciudad Real, started on 07/23/2026.

Beneficiaries may include natural persons, legal entities, and entities without legal personality who hold holdings located in these areas that have suffered damage, provided they are micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises and meet the requirements of article 3, including having submitted the 2026 single application or being registered in the Registry of Agricultural or Livestock Holdings.

Amounts per hectare, head of livestock, and animal feed

• Cereals: 600 euros per hectare; woody crops: 3,700 euros per hectare.
• Sheep-goat: 421 euros per lost, dead, or slaughtered head; bovine-equine: 4,050 euros; beekeeping: 70 euros per hive.
• Extensive animal feed: 0.50 euros per animal per day for meat sheep-goats and 2.5 euros per animal per day for bovine-equines, from October 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, applying the pasture affectation coefficient.
• Maximum amount: 60,000 euros per beneficiary.

The aid is compatible with European funds, national or regional measures, and insurance policy payments, provided that 100% of the amount of the damages is not exceeded, and cannot be accumulated with those intended to restore agricultural productive potential under Regulation (EU) 2022/2472.

Two million euros and ten business days to apply

The estimated credit amounts to 2,000,000.00 euros, charged to item 21130000/713B/47300 of the General Budgets of Castilla-La Mancha for 2026, and may be increased by an estimated additional amount of 500,000 euros before the application deadline ends. The regional ministry will publish the list of holders with verified damages on the electronic headquarters within five business days; from that publication, there will be ten business days to submit the application electronically via www.jccm.es.

The instructing body is the Service with competencies in animal health aid of the General Directorate of Agricultural and Livestock Management, and the resolution corresponds to the head of that general directorate, within a maximum period of two months from the day following the publication of the decree. An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the resolution before the regional minister within one month. Beneficiaries must maintain the livestock farm until March 31, 2027, and keep an agricultural insurance policy in force within the Combined Agricultural Insurance System for the following five campaigns.

The regulation seeks to guarantee the economic viability of the farms, maintain the local economy, avoid rural depopulation, and ensure the market supply of certain products, with successive granting resolutions so that the money reaches those affected as soon as possible.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, no. 181, of September 21, 2026, section I.- General Provisions, pages 32301-32309 (official reference: 2026/6799).