The City Council of Rivas, governed by IU, challenges the unilateral 13.3% increase in the regional fire service fee, raising the cost to €3.6 million for the municipality. They denounce that the Community of Madrid did not invest €37.8 million in prevention between 2019 and 2023, according to a final ruling.
The municipality of Rivas-Vaciamadrid has challenged the increase in the fire extinguishing service fee that the Community of Madrid applies to municipalities. The increase of 13.3% raises the cost for municipal coffers to €3.6 million, as denounced by the spokesperson for the municipal group IU-MM-VQ, José Luis Alfaro, in an opinion piece published by zarabanda.info.
The fee rises from €30.93 to €35 per inhabitant. Alfaro emphasizes that Rivas is the only city with over 100,000 inhabitants without a fire station and that 73% of its land is part of the Regional Park of the Southeast, which he believes makes the demanded amount disproportionate and similar to municipalities with double the population.
The challenge is based on a final ruling from the High Court of Justice of Madrid, from June, which concludes that between 2019 and 2023 the Community of Madrid failed to invest €37.8 million in the Fire Prevention and Extinction and Rescue Service. Alfaro points out that the regional government announced an investment of that same amount weeks after the ruling became final, a coincidence he considers "suspicious."
What is concerning is not only the non-compliance recognized by the courts. What is concerning is who will now bear the economic consequences of that disapproved management," says Alfaro.
The spokesperson criticizes that the increase was approved unilaterally and without any expansion of the service or proportional improvements for residents. He also reminds that the forest firefighters of the Community of Madrid have been on indefinite strike since May 2023 due to lack of personnel and resources.
The City Council of Rivas has challenged the fee as "unfair, disproportionate" and believes it has not been processed respecting legal guarantees. The question posed by Alfaro is what improvements Rivas will receive in fire prevention and extinction if it continues to lack a fire station.
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