Paterna's municipal plenary session has approved, with the support of PSOE, PP, and Compromís, a request to the Generalitat Valenciana to establish an automatic closure of the La Vallesa forest and the Turia Natural Park on days of extreme fire risk. The proposal, driven by the Aliança per l’Emergència Climàtica de Paterna, aims to link access prohibition directly to the declaration of the 'red flag' status, thus avoiding the need for extraordinary resolutions and improving predictability for citizens.
The main objective is to reduce the risk of forest fires, considering that 80% of fires have human origins, whether due to negligence, recklessness, or accident. The Turia Natural Park receives over two million visitors annually, making access restriction an effective preventive measure. The proposal seeks the prohibition to be a generic and automatic rule, facilitating the installation of permanent informational signs warning about the impossibility of accessing the forest with a red flag.
Currently, the forest closure depends on specific resolutions, which causes confusion among visitors. The new measure would allow users to consult official channels (such as 112 or municipal services) to verify the alert status. Furthermore, it is proposed that this automation be extended to the rest of the natural parks in the Valencian Community to ensure homogeneous protection of the ecosystem.
The initiative also aims to guarantee public safety, preventing visitors from being inside the park in case of a sudden fire, a necessity highlighted by recent fires.
