The mayor expressed the need for immediate action to prevent ash from contaminating reservoirs and aquifers, which could severely damage remaining water resources. He requested investment in infrastructure, communication, and development projects to boost the region's growth, warning against the "emptied Spain" at risk of becoming "dead Spain" due to institutional inaction.
Fernández Garrido announced that, along with other mayors in the region, urgent council meetings will be convened to present a formal and firm request for the declaration of a catastrophic zone to the Regional Government of Andalusia, the State Administration, and the European Union. He stressed that this is a crucial moment for the credibility of the administrations.
The mayor recalled the high unemployment rate in Aznalcóllar, the highest in the province of Seville (16.72%), and linked the current fire to the 1998 ecological catastrophe and the mine's closure, which severely impacted the local economy. He called for an administrative response comparable to that event.
In his statements, the mayor described how the mountains, forests, and municipalities are burning again, threatening the future of a region crying out for help. He emphasized the structural precariousness that Aznalcóllar has endured since the mine closure, but highlighted the inhabitants' capacity for survival.
He recalled the mining accident of April 25, 1998, when the tragedy united all administrations and political forces, resulting in a swift intervention to clean the Guadiamar river before the September rains. According to his experience as a former miner, that effort demonstrated that solutions arrive on time when there is will.
After the river's recovery, the community reinvented itself, living off nature, the mountains, beekeeping, livestock farming, and sustainable tourism. Despite these efforts, the municipality continues to suffer the highest unemployment rate in the province. The mayor emphasized that they are not asking for charity, but for territorial justice and immediate action, and expressed confidence that institutions will rise to the occasion as they did in the past to rebuild the land and ensure a future based on nature and life.
