Valencia regional leader in Spain promises no buildings to go up on land ravaged by wildfire

Ximo Puig, the socialist leader of Spain's Valencian regional assembly, promised that the land ravaged by wildfires close to the popular tourist resort of Javia in eastern Spain over the past week would not be re-classified for construction purposes.

The series of fires, which are thought to have been started intentionally, caused around 1,400 people to be evacuated and destroyed around 800 hectares of woodland, as well as some homes around Javia.

Aerial photos of the effects of the fire show how the vast majority of the destruction was in areas close to housing estates, which would be prime land for building further holiday homes in an area of great natural beauty.

The government of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's People's Party passed a law (the Mountains Law -- Ley de Montes) in July 2015 which allowed regional authorities to reclassify land destroyed by fire to enable it to be built on.

This caused an outcry from environmental groups who considered the law to be an open invitation for unscrupulous developers to burn woodland in order to gain building rights. Given that authorities believe the Javia fires were the work of an arsonist, this had been suggested as a possible motivation for provoking the destruction.

However, Puig told the Spanish press on Thursday that no new building would be allowed and pointed out that his administration had overturned the Ley de Montes in the Valencia Region "to ensure nobody has anything to gain by burning woodland to try and get it reclassified."

"This can be done in other parts of Spain, but it can no longer be done in Valencia. We are dealing with environmental terrorism which affects our region's natural heritage and the lives of many people," commented Puig, adding that his administration was considering a move to further toughening the law. Endit