Álava activates exceptional restrictions due to extreme risk of forest fires.

The Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) publishes this Friday, August 14, Foral Order 251/2026, of August 12, which immediately activates exceptional restrictions and prohibitions on movement, access, and use of fire in forests and in the 400-meter strip around them. The measure, adopted by the Department of Agriculture of the Provincial Council of Álava, responds to the prediction of very high or extreme forest fire risk for the period between 14:00 hours on August 12 and 22:00 hours on August 13, 2026.

The order is issued under Article 48.6 of Law 43/2003, of November 21, on Forests, which requires autonomous communities to immediately apply the prohibitions on movement and access when the foreseeable risk is very high or extreme, and in implementation of Royal Decree 716/2025, of August 26, which approves the common guidelines and criteria for annual forest fire prevention, surveillance, and suppression plans. The current annual plan for 2026, approved by the Foral Government Council through Resolution 312/2026, of May 26, did not expressly include these prohibitions, so the Foral order ensures their direct application by virtue of the basic law.

The EUSKALMET notice, based on the hourly FWI index for the Historical Territory of Álava, points to a combination of temperature, wind, and dryness that significantly increases the risk of ignition and spread. The order, signed by the Provincial Deputy for Agriculture, Noemí Aguirre Quintana, and the Director of Agriculture, David Fernández Sarabia, takes effect upon its approval, without prejudice to its urgent publication in the BOTHA and its immediate dissemination through the institutional website, official social networks, and media.

Prohibitions in forests and rural areas

During the declared period, it is prohibited to light fires in all types of open spaces in the territory, whatever their purpose (recreational, domestic, agricultural, livestock, forestry, or hunting), including on private properties and in areas not expressly regulated by the annual Foral plan. The order temporarily suspends all authorizations for the burning of stubble, permanent pastures, pruning residues, and silvicultural residues, without the need for an individual act of revocation.

• The use of machinery that generates deflagration, sparks or electric discharges is prohibited in woodlands and in the 400-metre strip, such as bulldozers, backhoes, motor graders, brush cutters, harvesters, chainsaws or welding and cutting equipment, unless expressly authorised or necessary for extinguishing work.
• The introduction and use of pyrotechnic material is prohibited, including firecrackers, rockets, batteries, flares and signalling devices, regardless of whether they are used in public or private spaces.
• Fires may not be lit in rest areas along the road network, in recreational and camping areas, nor may burning objects such as cigarette butts, matches, embers, hot ashes or incandescent waste be thrown or abandoned.

Recipients and dissemination

The order is notified to all local entities in Álava, to the Roads Service and to the Directorate of Natural Environment of the Foral Council of Álava, to the Autonomous Body of Foral Firefighters of Álava, to the Firefighters of Vitoria-Gasteiz, to the Ertzaintza, to the Miñones and to the Forest Guard. Agricultural and forestry organisations are also informed, including UAGA, farmers’ and livestock farmers’ associations, forestry associations, hunting ground associations of Álava, agricultural cooperatives, companies managing services in the natural parks and the Alava Mountain Federation, as well as the Sub-delegation of the Government in Álava, entrusted with ensuring compliance.

Validity and appeals

The declared risk may be extended, modified or lifted early by means of a new resolution depending on the evolution of the danger. Against the foral order, which exhausts the administrative route, an appeal for reconsideration may be lodged within one month before the Foral Deputy for Agriculture, or an administrative contentious appeal within two months before the Administrative Contentious Section of the Court of First Instance of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The publication arrives in the midst of the second half of August, when recreational use of the countryside and agricultural and livestock tasks intensify in rural Álava. Compliance with these restrictions is key to preventing a spark or a poorly controlled fire from triggering a forest fire with irreversible consequences for the territory and its inhabitants.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA), No. 92, Friday, 14 August 2026, Section I – General Assemblies of Álava and Foral Administration (Foral Council of Álava, Department of Agriculture), pp. 1-4 (official reference: Foral Order 251/2026, of 12 August; record 2026-02439).