Zafra initially approves the peri-urban fire prevention plan

The Plenary of Zafra City Council has agreed to the initial approval of the Zafra Peri-urban Forest Fire Prevention Plan, an instrument drafted by the Badajoz Provincial Council and intended to protect the contact strip between the urban area and the forest areas of the municipal district. The agreement is published in Official Bulletin of the Province of Badajoz number 153, on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, through Notice 3195/2026, which opens a public information period of twenty business days for those who may be interested.

The news arrives at the height of the summer season, when the risk of forest fires reaches its highest levels in Extremadura and prevention in the urban-forest environment becomes a priority for residents and property owners. The file has been processed by the competent services of the council itself, and the drafting of the plan corresponds to the Badajoz Provincial Council within the framework of the management assignment agreement signed between both public administrations.

Initial approval does not yet make the document final: the procedure now requires that the plan be submitted to public exhibition, so that any person or entity that considers itself interested may examine it and submit comments, suggestions or claims before the final decision is adopted.

An instrument for the urban-forest interface

The peri-urban forest fire prevention plan is designed as a local planning tool aimed at organizing preventive measures in the immediate surroundings of the urban center of Zafra, where homes, infrastructure and vegetation masses with a risk of ignition and fire spread coexist. Its content covers the necessary actions to reduce the likelihood of fire and improve response capacity in the event of a possible incident in that transition strip.

The commitment to these plans responds to the need to anticipate one of the greatest threats of summer in the province of Badajoz, where dry vegetation and high temperatures increase the exposure of populations settled near wooded and dehesa areas.

Deadline and comment procedure

The published notice calls the public information procedure with the following conditions:

Twenty business days to appear and submit comments, suggestions or claims from the publication of the notice in the bulletin.
All persons who may be considered interested in the file may participate.
The file will be available to interested parties at the City Council’s electronic office (zafra.sedelectronica.es) and on its transparency portal (zafra.sedelectronica.es/transparency).

The agents of the process

Several administrations and firms are involved in the processing of the plan:

Zafra City Council: the body that initially approves the plan, processes the file, and opens the period for public comments.
Provincial Council of Badajoz: the administration responsible for drafting the document, under the management delegation agreement between both institutions.
Juan Carlos Fernández Calderón, mayor of Zafra: digitally signs the announcement on behalf of the city council.

The culmination of this procedure will provide the municipality with its own prevention instrument that will directly affect residents and owners in the urban-forest environment, who will have in the public comment period their main opportunity to participate in the final configuration of the plan. In the midst of the fire prevention campaign, the entry into force of the document will strengthen the municipality’s capacity to minimize risks and protect both people and Zafra’s natural heritage.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, No. 153, August 12, 2026, Local Administration section (official reference: Announcement 3195/2026).