25 Spanish firefighters win €571,000 after extraordinary employment battle

During Spain’s summer wildfire season, when firefighters are being pushed to their limits protecting homes, forests and communities, 25 firefighters in Salamanca found themselves facing a very different battle, fighting to prove they had been unfairly dismissed.

The firefighters, who had been working at the Villares de la Reina fire station, have now won their case, with their former employer ordered to pay more than €571,000 in compensation. The dispute began when responsibility for the fire service changed hands, leaving the firefighters caught between the company they worked for and the public authority taking over the service.

The fire service changed hands

The firefighters had expected their work to continue when the Diputación took over the service. Their employer, Oficina Técnica Demontes S.L.U., had been responsible for providing fire prevention, firefighting and rescue services before its contract ended at the end of December 2025. From January 1 Salamanca Provincial Council took direct control of the service.

Demontes considered that the firefighters’ employment contracts would effectively transfer to the provincial authority, The court disagreed,  The Juzgado de lo Social number 3 in Salamanca found that the change in management did not create a situation in which the Diputación automatically became their employer. At the same time, Demontes had not followed the correct procedure for ending their contracts.

That left the firefighters in an unusual position. The company that had previously employed them was no longer providing the service, while the authority taking over the operation was not legally required to take them on. The dispute eventually went before the courts after an attempt to resolve the matter through conciliation failed. 

Court rules dismissals were unfair

The Salamanca court issued its ruling on June 11, declaring the dismissals improcedentes, the Spanish legal term for unfair dismissals.  Demontes was given two options: reinstate the 25 firefighters and pay the corresponding back wages, or compensate them for the loss of their jobs, the company chose compensation. The combined amount exceeds €571,000, with the individual payments calculated according to each firefighter’s employment history and salary.

The compensation means the firefighters have won recognition that their dismissals were unfair, but it does not mean they will return to their former positions. Demontes chose to pay the compensation rather than reinstate them. The firefighters therefore receive a financial settlement instead of returning to the jobs they had expected to continue doing when the service changed hands.

The council is not paying

The court did not find Salamanca Provincial Council responsible for the dismissals. That is significant because the Diputación has been running the fire service directly since January, but the judgment does not require it to employ the former Demontes workers. The liability instead falls on the company that previously held the contract.

So this is not a case in which the provincial authority has been ordered to pay 25 firefighters more than half a million euros. It is Demontes that has chosen to pay after the court ruled that the dismissals were unfair.

The importance of the case

The dispute began because an essential public service moved from private to direct public management. For the firefighters, however, the change was far more than an administrative decision.

They went from working in a service that was still needed to fighting over what would happen to their employment when the contractor changed. The fire station did not disappear. The firefighting service did not disappear. But the employment relationship of the people who had been providing that service became the subject of a legal dispute. That is what ultimately led to the huge compensation bill.

The case could continue

The ruling was issued on June 11, but it may not be the final stage of the dispute. An appeal can still be lodged before the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León. For the 25 firefighters, the immediate outcome is clear: their former employer has opted to compensate them rather than reinstate them.

For Salamanca, meanwhile, the fire service continues under the Diputación’s direct management. And for the firefighters who expected to carry on protecting the province, the change of employer ended with a court battle and a payout worth more than half a million euros.