Lousa, Portugal, May 13, 2026 (Lusa) - A cooperation project between Portugal and Spain, with €4 million in European funding, aims to strengthen fire prevention and response across 5,000 hectares.
The Coimbra Region Intermunicipal Community (CIMRC), a grouping of local councils, leads the Firepoctep Avanza project presented in Lousã on Wednesday involving 19 entities from the two countries.
The initiative includes Spain’s regional governments, universities from both countries and other intermunicipal communities such as Algarve, Ave and Alto Minho.
Jorge Brito, the CIMRC executive secretary, said the project, which runs until 2028, includes 50 awareness campaigns, work on 5,000 hectares, and several workshops.
It covers Portugal’s Central, North and Algarve regions, as well as Spain’s Galicia, Andalusia, Extremadura and Castile and Leon regions.
This project aims to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, following two previous European Commission-funded initiatives. It seeks to improve prevention, risk management, awareness, training and response to fires along the border area.
Brito said the project will define strategic management zones to create resilient ecological corridors and support local communities.
Activities include strengthening cross-border coordination, harmonising procedures, conducting joint exercises, training local human resources, and promoting fire-response technology and innovation.
Jorge Brito said the goal is to have a better cross-border fire response by the end of the project, with more prepared communities and increased landscape resilience.
"Cooperation between the countries is vital," he said, noting that more than 2.5 million hectares burned in the two countries between 2017 and 2025.
Jorge Brito said response patterns must evolve across cooperation, technology, resilience, and prevention due to increasing climate change risks.
State Secretary for Forests Rui Ladeira said fires do not respect borders or municipal boundaries. He noted that climate change presents “many challenges.”
He said it is necessary to “continue to investigate”, support local authorities and “local stakeholders”, and ensure the best information so that “public resources are well targeted.”
CIMRC deputy head Ricardo Cruz, Lousã Mayor Vitor Carvalho and Nathalie Verschelde (attending remotely) from the European Commission also attended the session.
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