Breaking the law to save their village: the story of La Adrada, Spain
Residents of La Adrada, in Ávila, Spain, broke environmental rules to build firebreaks after three days without aerial firefighting support. 200 people refused to evacuate.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
La Adrada residents defy the rules to fight the wildfire
Three days watching flames crown the hills without a single firefighter or aircraft arriving. That was the last straw for the residents of La Adrada, a village in Ávila, Spain, who decided to take matters into their own hands when the authorities were nowhere to be seen. The result: 200 people refused to evacuate and 60 of them, organized through a WhatsApp group, began building firebreaks on their own, sidestepping every environmental regulation. "We ignored all the rules to cut firebreaks through the shrubs and pine forests," says Roberto Alcocer, owner of a local car dealership and improvised host of the civil resistance.
The paradox is striking: to save their land, they had to break the very rules meant to protect it. And as the forest burned, the legal machinery — which makes touching trees without a permit a incivil offence — was laid bare. Some legal experts point out that, while the act falls under the letter of the law, it is not unlawful if done in self-defence and to protect others' property during an emergency. Fines are possible, but can be appealed. The question that remains: will they be fined, or recognized for doing what the state could not?
Three days watching flames crown the hills without a single firefighter or aircraft arriving. That was the last straw for the residents of La Adrada, a village in Ávila, Spain, who decided to take matters into their own hands when the authorities were nowhere to be seen. The result: 200 people refused to evacuate and 60 of them, organized through a WhatsApp group, began building firebreaks on their own, sidestepping every environmental regulation. "We ignored all the rules to cut firebreaks through the shrubs and pine forests," says Roberto Alcocer, owner of a local car dealership and improvised host of the civil resistance.
The paradox is striking: to save their land, they had to break the very rules meant to protect it. And as the forest burned, the legal machinery — which makes touching trees without a permit a incivil offence — was laid bare. Some legal experts point out that, while the act falls under the letter of the law, it is not unlawful if done in self-defence and to protect others' property during an emergency. Fines are possible, but can be appealed. The question that remains: will they be fined, or recognized for doing what the state could not?
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (12 replies).
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