Andalucía urges disaster zone status for 31 towns hit by wildfires and earthquakes

The request comes in the wake of catastrophic wildfires in Almería, Granada, Huelva and Sevilla, alongside a protracted series of earthquakes that rattled Granada province throughout August.

Regional leaders are asking central government to activate emergency support under Spain's National Civil Protection System for towns that had been omitted from an earlier rescue package approved in July.

If approved, the measures will unlock direct financial aid for homeowners, emergency compensation for local councils, low-interest loan guarantees and funding to repair ruined public infrastructure. Tax relief and labour exemptions are also on the table to help hard-hit businesses survive.

In total, 15 towns were ravaged by forest fires. These include Las Tres Villas and Nacimiento in Almería; Lecrín in Granada; Aznalcóllar in Sevilla; and a large swath of Huelva including Valverde del Camino, Lepe, Niebla and Zalamea la Real.

A further 16 towns across Granada - including Armilla, Maracena, Santa Fe and Granada city itself - have been included due to structural damage caused by repeated seismic activity.

Alongside requests for national aid, regional authorities have declared the massive wildfire that started in Niebla on 6 August an official natural disaster for the farming and forestry sectors. The inferno quickly crossed provincial borders into Sevilla.

Data from the European Union's Copernicus satellite system reveals the scale of the destruction: the fire burned a perimeter of 210 kilometres and scorched nearly 33,000 hectares of high-ecological-value land, destroying pine forests, oak pastures and Mediterranean woodland.

The economic hit to local agriculture is severe. Timber yields have been wiped out, cork production has crashed and the upcoming montanera acorn-feeding season for Iberian pigs has been completely lost.

Local beekeepers have suffered catastrophic losses of hives and flora, while authorities warn that autumn rains pose a severe risk of soil erosion across destroyed habitats.

To prevent farmers and livestock breeders from losing crucial European Union agricultural subsidies due to force majeure, the regional government is deploying its own emergency funds to help rebuild essential public services across southern Spain.