Why Do Uninhabited Mountains Burn So Much? - "Hollowed-Out Spain" and Massive Wildfires

El Bierzo region in León Province, northwestern Spain. The basin, surrounded by mountains about 2000 meters high, is a fertile land where grapes, fruit trees, and vegetables can be cultivated. It is also traversed by the road to Santiago de Compostela, offering potential for both agriculture and tourism.

However, the population has been declining for years in these mountainous areas. Young people move to cities in search of opportunities in work, education, healthcare, and transportation, leaving the region with a shortage of people to manage farmlands, pastures, and forests on a daily basis.

One might think that nature would recover if people left. However, in Spain's Mediterranean climate, where human intervention has been long-standing, simply halting human activities does not revert the forests to safe, primeval conditions.

In abandoned fields, grass grows and shrubs spread. In forests where livestock no longer graze, undergrowth and thin branches accumulate, and trees once used for firewood are left unattended. When the boundaries between farmland, pastures, and forests become connected by dense vegetation, fire can easily spread across the ground, moving from slope to slope.

The departure of people from rural areas is not just a demographic change. It also means the loss of "daily activities that mitigate fire" from the land.

Is it climate or land abandonment that fuels the fire?

In discussions about wildfires, there is often a tendency to pinpoint a single cause.

Is it climate change? Is it the lack of forest management? Is it arson? Is it administrative failure?

However, these explanations do not necessarily negate each other.

The ignition sources themselves can be varied, such as lightning, farming activities, machinery, power transmission equipment, negligence, or intentional arson. Meanwhile, rising temperatures, prolonged dryness, and heatwaves create an environment that rapidly expands any fire by depleting moisture from plants and soil.

If this is combined with the accumulated vegetation from abandoned farmland and reduced grazing, the amount and continuity of fuel increase. The causes of ignition and the conditions for fire escalation must be considered separately.

Focusing solely on climate change while neglecting land management, or discussing only forest management while ignoring extreme heat and dryness, only sees part of the reality.

The issue is not about completely preventing fires, but about how to create land that is less likely to grow into uncontrollable sizes when fires occur.

"Fuel" increases on abandoned land

In productive areas like El Bierzo, plants grow vigorously when it rains. However, without people to cut the plants or livestock to graze them, they turn into a large amount of dry fuel during the hot summer months.

Particularly dangerous is the continuous state of ground grass, shrubs, branches, and tree canopies. If a fire starts near the ground and moves to shrubs, then reaches the upper parts of trees, the flames can spread rapidly with strong winds. The heat may become too intense for firefighting teams to approach, and water drops from aircraft may not be enough to control it.

In the past, rural residents collected firewood, released livestock, maintained the boundaries between fields and forests, and kept farm roads and waterways clear. Not all of these activities were aimed at wildfire prevention. Nonetheless, daily production activities resulted in reduced fuel and fragmented the land.

In other words, rural life itself was part of the fire prevention infrastructure.

The loss due to population decline is not just in the amount of work. Knowledge about where water flows, which roads can accommodate fire trucks, and how wind direction changes on certain slopes is also less likely to be passed on.

Early detection and reporting of fires, as well as checking on elderly residents who need to evacuate, also become more challenging. Depopulation simultaneously weakens both the state of the forests and the region's response capabilities.

Can sheep and goats become "walking lawnmowers"?

One measure gaining attention is planned grazing using sheep, goats, and other livestock.

Spain has a tradition called "transhumance," where livestock herds are moved between north and south or highlands and lowlands according to the seasons. This system allows livestock and people to consume grass across various areas, utilizing the land.

Grazing animals reduce combustible materials in forests by eating grass and young shrubs. Especially in firebreaks, around settlements, and along roads where slowing the fire's progress is desired, planned use of livestock can complement mechanical mowing.

In southern Spain, efforts to maintain firebreaks with livestock have been studied for some time. It is not simply a matter of releasing animals into the mountains; it requires managing where, when, and how many animals to introduce. Since sheep and goats consume different plants, the combination must be tailored to the land's condition.

Grazing also holds potential benefits such as maintaining biodiversity, preserving local livestock breeds, nutrient cycling in the soil, and shaping the landscape. If the culture of transhumance remains, it can lead to economic activities such as festivals, food culture, processed goods, and tourism.

However, treating livestock merely as "free lawnmowers" is not sustainable.

If shepherds and livestock farmers cannot earn sufficient income, are forced into long working hours, and lack successors, the role of grazing in fire prevention policies will disappear. If livestock play a public role in reducing forest fire risks, a system where society pays for that service is necessary.

Replanting trees alone won't solve the problem

The EU's forest restoration project "SUPERB" examined large-scale forest and landscape restoration methods in 12 regions across Europe. El Bierzo was one of these demonstration areas.

The research emphasized cultivating forests with a mix of multiple tree species and ages, rather than forests dominated by a single species. A diverse range of tree species can potentially reduce the risk of the entire forest being lost simultaneously due to threats like pests or droughts.

However, it is not always best to simply choose the trees that have been planted in the past. With changing temperatures and precipitation, it is necessary to consider tree species that can adapt to the environment decades later.

On the other hand, there is no simple solution like "just plant fire-resistant trees."

Even tree species that can withstand fires up to a certain intensity may die off on a large scale if exposed to high-temperature fires in extremely dry soil. If the fire is intense, the damage extends beyond the trunks and leaves to the soil structure and microorganisms. When the ground is exposed to high temperatures, a layer that makes water absorption difficult can form, posing a risk of landslides and ash flows during heavy rains after the fire.

Forest restoration is not a project that ends once seedlings are planted. It requires decades of thinning, managing undergrowth, and monitoring for diseases and drought conditions. Without people and funding to continue this work, reforested areas could again become places with dense fuel.

Wildfire prevention is also an "industrial policy"

The case of El Bierzo shows that wildfire prevention is not just an issue for firefighting or environmental departments.

For residents to continue living in rural areas, year-round jobs, housing, schools, healthcare, transportation, and communication infrastructure are necessary. If forestry and livestock farming are to play a role in fire prevention, these jobs must generate income that supports livelihoods.

The region has industries tied to the land, such as wine, fruit, chestnuts, timber, meat, and dairy products. Systems to utilize wood and branches from forest management as building materials, fuel, and compost can also be considered.

Moreover, El Bierzo is close to the Santiago pilgrimage route. If tourists use local accommodations, restaurants, and agricultural products, it can supplement the income of residents managing the forests.

However, merely increasing the number of tourists is not enough. Tourism that concentrates people in a short period can also increase water demand, traffic, and fire usage. During periods of high wildfire risk, evacuation routes, alerts, and information provision to accommodations need to be organized.

The important thing is to design agriculture, livestock farming, forestry, tourism, and nature conservation not as separate policies but as a single regional economy.

Debate on social media ranges from "bring back the sheep" to "political responsibility"

In public social media posts about Spanish wildfires, information highlighting rural depopulation and reduced grazing is widely shared.

EFE Verde shared on Bluesky that population decline and aging are making rural areas in Spain and Portugal more vulnerable to large-scale fires. Science Media Centre España also posted on X, sharing expert opinions that the decline of extensive livestock farming in Europe has led to overlooked ecological impacts, including wildfires.

In the Spain-related community on Reddit, opinions were seen evaluating livestock management of vegetation as one solution. There were also comments pointing out that the system is unsustainable due to low income for shepherds and calls to support the consumption of local livestock products.

On the other hand, there are counterarguments that "simply releasing animals is not a simple solution." It was pointed out that the effectiveness is limited if the number of livestock and grazing locations are not appropriate, that even managed lands can burn in extremely dry and windy conditions, and that the environmental impact and profitability of livestock farming need to be considered.

Additionally, there are many posts calling for investment in firefighters and forest monitors, year-round employment, and preventive work from winter to spring. The argument is that deploying aircraft and firefighting teams after the fire has spread is too late, and budgets should be allocated to thinning during peacetime, maintaining firebreaks, roads, and water sources.

The debate often shifts to political responsibility. There are repeated arguments about whether the central government or the autonomous community is responsible, who made budget cuts, and whether forest cleaning is prohibited by environmental regulations.

Among these are claims with unclear evidence and assertions blaming only specific political parties or environmental groups. Whenever a wildfire occurs, posts seeking an easily identifiable "culprit" tend to spread more readily than those addressing complex land systems or weather conditions.

Reactions on social media do not represent a survey of the entire society. However, it can be read that multiple issues such as working conditions on the ground, rural decline, climate change, the pros and cons of livestock farming, and administrative responsibility are erupting all at once through the lens of wildfires.

"Leaving forests unattended" is not the same as "protecting nature"

In discussions about wildfire prevention, attention must also be paid to the phrase "cleaning forests."

Fallen trees, dead branches, and undergrowth are not all unnecessary waste. They serve as habitats for insects and fungi, return nutrients to the soil, and help retain moisture. Removing plants from every part of the forest can damage ecosystems and potentially increase dryness.

What is needed is not to make the entire forest uniform like a park. Around settlements, evacuation routes, power lines, important facilities, and firebreaks, fuel should be reduced with focus. Meanwhile, areas should be designated to leave fallen trees and shrubs for biodiversity.

A landscape where farmland, pastures, orchards, low-density forests, and mature forests are distributed in a mosaic pattern does not uniformly stop the progress of fire but is expected to have the effect of fragmenting large continuous fuel areas.

Management that takes into account the terrain, vegetation, wind, land ownership, and industry of each region is indispensable.

What is needed is a shift from "firefighting-centered" to "land protection systems"

Future wildfire prevention will require advancing at least five initiatives simultaneously.

The first is to establish a system where forest firefighters and technicians are not only seasonally employed but can engage in preventive work year-round.

The second is to evaluate grazing, mowing, and farmland maintenance by farmers and shepherds not only as food production but also as services for disaster prevention and ecosystem conservation.

The third is to avoid large-scale monoculture plantations and form diverse landscapes that include farmland and pastures.

The fourth is to ensure jobs, housing, education, healthcare, and communication in rural areas so that younger generations can live in the region. It is difficult to continue managing land with only short-term subsidy projects in places without residents.

The fifth is to prepare for extreme fires by establishing early warning systems, evacuation routes, communication means, and multilingual information for tourists and foreign residents.

It is not possible to completely eliminate fires. However, it is possible to create land and societies where fires are less likely to develop into massive disasters.

To protect the forest, the village must be kept alive

What Spanish wildfires highlight is the limitation of the idea that "nature can be protected by separating it from humans."

In lands shaped over a long time by agriculture, grazing, firewood use, and forest work, human withdrawal does not necessarily mean safety or natural recovery. Fuel accumulates on unmanaged land, and fires can simultaneously destroy forests, wildlife, soil, and homes.

However, simply reviving past lifestyles is not the solution. People will not return if low wages and heavy labor are imposed on residents while merely demanding "preserve tradition."

What is needed is a new rural economy where local people can earn a fair income through work that protects the land. It is a system where grazing, forestry, agricultural products, tourism, forest restoration, and disaster prevention are interconnected, and society as a whole bears the cost for public value.

Wildfires do not start as disasters on the day the flames rise.

As jobs disappear, schools close, livestock vanish, fields are abandoned, and people knowledgeable about forests leave, the land gradually becomes more flammable.

What is needed to extinguish fires is not just fire trucks and aircraft.

People who live, work, and continue to care for the forest are needed.

Sources and References

Tagesschau article reporting on depopulation in El Bierzo, accumulation of combustible vegetation, transhumance, and SUPERB research content
https://www.tagesschau.de/wissen/klima/spanien-waldbraende-forschung-100.html

EU Research Project SUPERB: Overview of the project involving 12 large-scale demonstration areas, forest ecosystem restoration, and participation of local stakeholders
https://cord