The Albany Gazette - Wildfires pile pressure on Spanish PM

The twin crises have intensified disputes between Sanchez's Socialist minority government and the conservative Popular Party (PP), which governs many of the regions hardest hit by the fires.

Blazes have destroyed more than 415,000 hectares, mostly in August, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, marking a new annual record since reporting began in 2006.

Four people have died and thousands have been evacuated because of this month's fires.

The Socialists blame the PP for failing to implement effective fire prevention policies and for playing down climate change.

The PP points to arson as the cause of the fires and accuses the central government of withholding resources, including enough military support.

PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo has proposed creating a creating a national registry of arsonists.

But government minister Angel Victor Torres insisted on public television on Wednesday that regional governments were responsible for disaster response.

"The opposition leader shows up and points fingers instead of helping," he said, referring to the proposed arson registry.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles said many PP-led regional governments had "failed to act".

"When there has been no investment in prevention, it is not enough to say, 'The army will arrive,'" she told radio station Ser.

- 'Incompetent' -

PP spokeswoman Ester Munoz countered, accusing the government of scapegoating.

"The response of a "serious government should be 'where and when do you need resources' and not that local authorities are incompetent," she said.

The political debate mirrors the controversy that followed deadly floods in October 2024 in PP-governed Valencia.

The row comes as Sanchez's political standing has taken a hit from several investigations into alleged corruption among his inner circle.

His wife, Begona Gomez, has been ordered to appear in court again in September for questioning into alleged embezzlement of public funds.

Sanchez has dismissed the allegations against his wife -- which are related to her past job at Madrid's Complutense University -- as an attempt by the right to undermine his government.

The prime minister's former right-hand man, Santos Cerdan, was detained in June in an ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks for public contracts.

And his younger brother, David Sanchez, has been under investigation since 2024 for alleged embezzlement, influence peddling and tax fraud.

Sanchez's minority government is propped up by smaller regional parties and it has struggled to pass legislation or even a budget.

Feijoo has dismissed Sanchez as a "zombie" head of government because of his difficulty in passing laws and called for an early general election.

(T.Brown--TAG)