Permanent financial control over the aid for the Sierra Oeste fires

The General Comptroller of the Community of Madrid has approved a resolution, dated September 8, 2026, which dictates the instructions for executing the Agreement of September 2, 2026, of the Governing Council, which establishes permanent financial control over the economic-financial management of the aid intended to address the needs and repair the damages derived from the forest fires that occurred in July in the Sierra Oeste. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid (BOCM) number 220, of September 15, 2026, pages 296 to 301.

The measure is caused by the magnitude of the fires last July, which prompted the declaration of an emergency of national interest through Order INT/748/2026, of July 23, applicable to the territory of the Community of Madrid and the province of Ávila, in accordance with articles 28 and 29 of Law 17/2015, of July 9, of the National Civil Protection System. Given this exceptional situation, the Community of Madrid launched urgent aid to alleviate the damages.

Regulatory framework of the control

The internal control of the economic-financial management of the regional public sector is regulated in Law 5/2025, of December 23, of the Treasury of the Community of Madrid, developed by Decree 62/2026, of July 22, of the Governing Council. Article 116.3 of the aforementioned law grants the Governing Council the competence to agree on the substitution of the auditing function with permanent financial control regarding certain management areas.

The management of this aid meets the characteristics to constitute its own management area, due to its unity of purpose, its link to the same causing event, the diversity of objects and recipients, and the intervention of different managing bodies. Permanent financial control allows for the combination of procedural analysis with the verification of specific operations and the orientation of actions according to identified risks.

Scope and competent bodies

Control will be exercised over the acts, documents, files, and procedures that integrate the management of the aid, including processing, granting, management, justification, verification, recognition of obligations, payment and, where applicable, reimbursement. The prior auditing of the regulatory bases is excluded from the substitution and will continue to be subject to the auditing function.

• Direction and coordination are the responsibility of the Sub-Directorate General for Financial Control of the General Comptroller’s Office.
• Actions will be executed by the central services body with financial control functions or the delegated comptrollerships determined in the annual control plan.
• Verifications may extend to all operations or to a selection based on risk, materiality, and representativeness criteria.
• When acting directly on beneficiaries or collaborating entities, it will be processed as financial control of subsidies in accordance with articles 141 to 143 of Law 5/2025.

Development, reports, and reversion

Verifications will be carried out systematically through analysis and verification procedures, including the examination of documentation, physical verification of funded investments, and review of computer management systems. The results will be documented in provisional and final reports, subject to the allegations process and forwarded to the responsible body and the assigned department.

The resolution, signed by the General Comptroller, Francisco Javier Carmena Lozano, takes effect from the date of its signature. The General Comptroller’s Office may agree, by reasoned resolution, the reversion to the comptroller function when control results reveal significant risks or when the degree of execution of the aid does not justify the maintenance of this modality.

The publication in the BOCM is for informational purposes only, and the official reference of the document is (03/14.511/26). With this measure, the Community of Madrid reinforces transparency and control over the destination of public funds intended for the reconstruction of the Sierra Oeste, guaranteeing citizens that the aid is managed in accordance with the law and the principles of sound financial management.

Source: Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, no. 220, September 15, 2026, section I.C) Other Provisions, pp. 296-301 (official reference: 03/14.511/26).