Four municipalities in Castellón call upon owners to implement firebreaks

The city councils of La Pobla de Benifassà, Montán, Peñíscola, and Caudiel published this Thursday, August 20, 2026, in the Official Gazette of the Province of Castellón (number 100) the notices requiring owners of forestry and agricultural land to implement the firebreaks and protection strips provided for in their respective local fire prevention plans. These actions are funded by the Municipal Strategic Fund for the Prevention of Forest Fires under its 2026 call, in the midst of the high-risk summer season.

The four municipalities are acting under Law 3/1993, of December 9, Forestry Law of the Valencian Community, which requires local entities in high-risk fire zones to approve a Local Forest Fire Prevention Plan (PLPIF) and landholders to carry out the works programmed therein. The regulation provides that if owners do not perform the actions within the deadline, the administration may resort to subsidiary execution at the owner’s expense.

Notices with a fifteen-day deadline

The notices from La Pobla de Benifassà, Montán, and Peñíscola require the holders of the affected cadastral plots to carry out the actions within a period of fifteen days from the publication in the gazette. If the interested parties do not express their disagreement within that period, it will be understood that they delegate to the city council the powers for the subsidiary execution of the works, which may be carried out directly or through a contracted company.

• La Pobla de Benifassà (file 107/2026): PA4 actions for the construction of firebreaks along the CV105 and CV106 roads, and PA1 for a safety strip on a section of the CV107.
• Montán (file 90/2026): creation of perimeter discontinuities of urban areas relative to the forest mass in the urban-forest interface.
• Peñíscola (file 2701T/2026): PA3 actions for perimeter protection strips in urbanized areas and CC3 for clearing and selective cutting of trees.

Caudiel begins work following public consultation

In Caudiel, the notice (reference 03748-2026-U) communicates the end of the public consultation period and the start of the works to open the firebreaks corresponding to actions SEG-AC-16.07.09 and SEG-AC-16.07.10. The file was submitted for public consultation via Mayoral Resolution DECRETOS 2026-0320, dated July 20, 2026, and the notice was published in BOP number 89, dated July 25, 2026, without any allegations or express opposition being presented.

The actions will be carried out charged to the Municipal Strategic Fund for Fire Prevention and Forest Management 2026 and aim to create discontinuities in the forest mass through the opening of strategic firebreaks, in accordance with the PLPIF of Caudiel. The affected plots and their owners are listed in Annex I of the file.

Regulatory framework and municipal officials

The local plans of the four municipalities were approved by resolution of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition of the Generalitat Valenciana, between 2021 and 2022. The announcements are signed by mayors David Gil Ventaja (La Pobla de Benifassà), Sergio Fornás Tuzón (Montán), Andrés Martínez Castellá (Peñíscola), and Antonio Martínez Fernández (Caudiel).

The simultaneous publication of these notices underscores the reinforcement of active prevention against forest fires in the interior and the coast of the province in the middle of summer. For the affected owners, the fifteen-day period is decisive: those who do not carry out the work or do not expressly object may find the city council performing the actions subsidiarily at their expense.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Castellón, number 100, August 20, 2026, Local Administration section (official references: 03734-2026-U, 03735-2026-U, 03736-2026-U, and 03748-2026-U).