Tarragona is among the first areas in Catalonia where forest clearing is under way to reduce the risk of large summer wildfires. The work is part of a wider plan to create 14 territorial strips across the region, designed to stop fires from jumping between mountain ranges.
The full programme will take years, but work has already started on five priority sections, known as confinement axes. One of them is the Rasquera-El Perelló axis in the Terres de l’Ebre, where the intervention has been awarded at a value of more than €500,000.
The work includes shrub clearing, tree thinning, pruning, felling and shredding plant debris. These areas were defined by the Fire Service, Agriculture and Territory departments, and are intended as resilient agroforestry landscapes rather than giant firebreaks.
Ricard Baqués, a technician for the Serra de Llaberia consortium and a member of the Pau Costa Foundation, said the aim in the Ebre area is to separate the Tivissa mountains from the Serra de Cardó. He said last year’s Paüls fire almost reached Cardó, and that large confinement axes are needed to reduce the risk of a fire spreading across 40,000 hectares.
Other corridors already under work include Igualada-Martorell-Santa Coloma de Cervelló, Perafita-Manresa, Argentona-La Roca and Girona-Celdrà. Contracts worth €2.85 million have been started for work on 700 hectares. According to the Fire Service, these five areas increase protection for 666,000 hectares where 531,000 people live.
Additional connectors are also planned, including a strip in Priorat between the Montsant mountains and Prades, another from La Bisbal del Penedès to Argençola, and one around the A-2 in Conca de Barberà. Asier Larrañaga of the Fire Service’s GRAF unit said fire behaviour is becoming more severe as the climate worsens, and that some fires can link several mountain ranges. More information on regional wildfire coverage is available on our news tag page.
Baqués said the summer ahead looks especially difficult because of climate change, drought, rural abandonment and more disorganised ecosystems. He also pointed to the current heatwave and the effects of a three-year drought, saying dead trees, dry grass and new vegetation growth can all add fuel to fires. For official wildfire guidance and prevention advice, readers can check the Catalan Government Interior Department and the Rural Agents.