Emergency money is earmarked for Montgo

THE Generalitat regional government has already allocated €175,000 for emergency action after the Montgo fire.

This will be made available as soon as possible so that work can begin on reversing erosion in the 444 hectares of the national park that were affected by the fire, said Salome Pradas of the Regional Environment Department.  

Dry stone walls and terracing will be repaired, charred vegetation removed and water troughs installed for wildlife.

Meanwhile, residents in the Javea neighbourhood of La Plana, who saw their homes threatened by the blaze, were critical of the regional government and the Montgo park’s board of governors.

They had been asking them for permission to clear the park as well as their own properties of debris and deadfalls since 2012, they said.

“They treat us as though we’re delinquents,” one resident complained in allusion to the board’s rejection of all requests to thin the park’s increasingly abundant vegetation.

The La Plana residents were equally displeased with investigators’ initial conclusions that although the fire could have been deliberately started, it was more likely to have been the result of negligence.  

This made it look as though the fire was the fault of the residents, they said.