- It is ensured that “all persons entitled to aid will receive it,” with no limit on the total amount.
- Compensation will be provided for physical injuries resulting from the fires, reaching up to €87,500 in the event of death.
- Owners of affected homes can receive up to €132,000 for rehabilitation if it is their primary residence, and up to €66,000 for second homes.
- There will also be grants of up to €16,200 to replace furniture or household utensils.
- The Council approves specific measures to mitigate losses in the harvest of vine growers and chestnut producers, as well as other agricultural production, or the death of livestock and bees.
- Owners of affected commercial, industrial and tourism establishments can receive up to €600,000 in aid, except in exceptional cases where this may increase up to a maximum of €1.5 million.
- The Xunta will collaborate with municipalities to repair damaged public installations and services, as well as expenses incurred in firefighting efforts or the evacuation of residents.
- The regional government will implement tax relief measures for those affected.
Ourense, 29 August 2025
The President of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, announced that the regional government approved today, at an extraordinary Council meeting, a package of measures to boost the reconstruction of areas affected in Galicia by this summer’s wave of forest fires. These are a series of grants aimed at supporting citizens and municipalities, which include aid for the recovery of homes, agricultural and livestock holdings, businesses, and municipal facilities.
Rueda emphasised that the Xunta’s goal is to reach the maximum number of beneficiaries. “All persons entitled to aid will receive it, with no limit on the total amount,” he explained, adding that these financial supports will be published tomorrow in the Official Journal of Galicia and can be applied for immediately from next Monday, 1 September.
The regional president highlighted that it is a priority for the Xunta that “the reconstruction is as fast as possible” and urged the central government to hurry in calling for its contributions to those affected by the fires in Galicia. In this regard, he recalled that the aid approved today by the Council will be compatible with that from the state government, provided the total sum of funds does not exceed the total damage caused.
To speed up and resolve doubts about the processing of these grants, Galicia will have 16 offices next Monday to assist those affected by the fires, staffed by around fifty public employees. Additionally, the citizen information telephone line 012, which has been reinforced, is also available.
Compensation for physical injuries to individuals
As Rueda explained, the Galician Government has made aid available in relation to personal injuries caused by the fires. In the case of death or permanent total disability, the amount will be €87,500, and in the case of injuries requiring hospitalisation of the injured person, the aid granted will be €120 per day of hospitalisation. The application period will be one month, starting from the day of death, the declaration of permanent total disability, or hospital discharge.
Support for the reconstruction of homes
The package of measures approved today at the extraordinary Council meeting includes support for the reconstruction of homes damaged as a result of the fires, with different amounts depending on whether the property affected was the main residence or a second home.
Rueda highlighted that, in the case of homes for habitual or permanent use, owners can receive up to €132,000 for rehabilitation, reconstruction, or to purchase a new home if the property has been declared uninhabitable. Similarly, there will be aid to renew household goods with amounts of up to €16,200.
For second homes, owners will be entitled to aid of up to €66,000 for rehabilitation or reconstruction. In addition, they can receive up to €5,400 for furniture and household utensils.
Excluded from this aid are homes that were abandoned at the time the fires occurred.
Furthermore, those affected by the fires can also benefit from complementary aid for temporary rehousing while damaged homes are being rehabilitated, provided it was their main residence. On one hand, through measures derived from agreements and pacts with municipalities and entities supporting these residents, and on the other, access to the Social Rental Voucher. In this case, the affected persons can receive up to 100% of the rent—provided they do not exceed the limits set by the municipalities that govern the terms of this Voucher—and an additional grant of €600 to cover costs of temporary accommodation, transport or moving.
Applications for housing aid can be submitted from next Monday until 28 November.
Agricultural, livestock and forestry holdings
The president also announced the launch of “eight aid lines to support the agricultural, livestock and forestry holdings in the areas affected by the fires.” All will cover 100% of the investment, with a maximum limit depending on the type of aid, which in some cases can reach €200,000 per person, although the same person may apply for one or several aid lines.
In the case of agricultural and livestock holdings, and with the objective of reaching as many beneficiaries as possible, the Xunta will encourage flexibility in procedures.
Owners will be able to apply for aid for the repair of assets, machinery, equipment or means of production of the holdings. If these are no longer usable, they may be replaced by new or second-hand machinery. The maximum amount will be €200,000 per person. Additionally, a grant is made available for the purchase of supplementary feed for extensive livestock or surviving beehives in the affected areas, for a maximum period of 6 months. The maximum amount will be €15,000 per person.
The Xunta will also compensate farmers and breeders for losses in production or animals. In the first case, grants of €12,700 per hectare will be given to wine producers, €1.22 per kilo to chestnut producers, compensation for forage loss will be calculated according to its condition (unharvested, bales, silage), and for other products, it will be based on the values of the prices established in the agricultural insurance line. Regarding aid to mitigate the death of livestock or bees, it will be estimated according to species type and animal age. For cattle, a maximum of €1,600 is established per animal aged 18 months or older and under 120 months.
As Rueda explained, four additional aid lines will also be enabled to repair damage to forestry holdings. The Xunta will provide up to €15,000 for repairing damage caused to privately owned infrastructure such as forest tracks, water catchments, fences, drinking troughs or feeders. Up to €50,000 may be received for repairing machinery and forestry equipment damaged in collaborative forest fire extinction tasks or caused by the fires. If unusable, they may be replaced by new or second-hand machinery. In addition, aid will be provided for the costs of burned piled wood and for cutting, collecting and shredding non-commercial burned wood or for marking, measuring and/or valuing commercial wood in publicly managed forests, with a maximum of €50,000 per person and up to €100,000 for replacement plantations.
The application period will be one month from next Monday.
Support for affected production centres and businesses (IG100A)
The Xunta is also promoting a line of direct aid to support companies affected by the wave of wildfires. The total amount of aid will be determined once the applications submitted have been resolved, considering the extraordinary nature of these and their status as direct, non-competitive grants.
The subsidies will cover up to 100% of the damages incurred, according to the valuation set out in an appraisal report, with a limit of €600,000 per beneficiary. Exceptionally, and considering the severity of the damage and its socioeconomic impact, the amount may be increased to a maximum of €1.5 million, especially when employment retention is at risk.
The call covers damages caused to buildings, installations, machinery, goods or commercial and industrial vehicles associated with the activity. Agricultural, livestock or forestry holdings are not included in this line.
The aid will be subsidiary and complementary, meaning it can be combined with other public or private compensations, provided the total sum does not exceed 100% of the damages. Furthermore, beneficiaries must undertake to maintain the affected activity for at least one year from the granting of the aid, a period that will be extended to three years if they receive an aid exceeding €600,000.
With this measure, the Galician Government seeks to provide a rapid and effective response to the economic impact of the wave of fires, demonstrating its commitment to the Galician business fabric and the recovery of the most affected areas. The application period will open the day after the resolution is published in the Official Journal of Galicia and will remain open for one month.
Additionally, the President of the Xunta announced that the regional government will initiate a series of meetings with tourist establishments affected by cancellations or loss of products to assess the damage and launch a specific aid line to support the sector.
Collaboration with municipalities
In the decree approved today, the Xunta also establishes aid for local entities to cover expenses arising from actions taken as a consequence of the fires, as well as for damage caused to municipally owned assets. As Rueda explained, these contributions will be determined through collaboration agreements with the municipalities to assist with their costs of repair, maintenance or replacement of infrastructure, equipment or municipal assets affected by the fires, as well as the acquisition of materials to restore affected services.
These aids will also cover costs of cleaning and environmental restoration or rental, fuel and repair of machinery and vehicles. In addition, expenses for the transfer, accommodation and maintenance of evacuated populations or personnel, both municipal staff and members of the firefighting operation, that the municipality had to assume will be financed. As a new measure, compared to the aid order published in 2022 for the same purpose, reimbursement of expenses incurred by residents for their collaboration in firefighting is included among the subsidisable actions.
Aid for Tecores
On the other hand, economic aid will be made available to holders of public use infrastructures affected by the fire in the Galician Network of Protected Areas and Biosphere Reserves to cover up to 100% of the restoration costs, with a maximum amount of €20,000 per project if the ownership is of a communal village forest and €40,000 if the beneficiary is a municipality.
The eligible actions under this order include the replacement or repair of structural elements of marked paths and routes, such as signs, viewpoints, wooden railings and sections of wooden walkways; various infrastructures and installations for the interpretation of the natural environment, such as signs and others; and elements of recreational areas located in protected spaces.
In addition, a second aid order will be announced to compensate holders of hunting-regulated lands (tecores) affected by this summer’s forest fires in Galicia.
These aids will cover the costs of sowing cereals (up to €650 per hectare, with a maximum limit per entity of €30,000), which serve as food for wildlife and help restore both hunting habitats and affected soils, as well as recovery, repair and replacement of infrastructures or installations (shelters, fountains, drinking troughs and feeders for animals, fences, corridors, etc.) destroyed or damaged by the fire, with a maximum amount of €12,000 per applicant.
Beneficiaries may request an advance payment of 100% of the granted aid without the need to provide collateral (i.e. without having to formalise a guarantee or bond), an exceptional measure adopted in this case to facilitate and speed up affected parties’ access to funds mobilised by the Xunta. The deadline for submitting applications will be one month from the publication of both calls in the Official Journal of Galicia, and beneficiaries may justify the subsidisable actions until 30 October 2026.
Tax relief for citizens affected by the fires
Beyond direct aid, the president announced “several initiatives at the administrative level to alleviate the effects of the fires on the population.” On one hand, the Xunta will facilitate compliance with tax obligations for people with tax domicile in the municipalities affected by the forest fires, or who, without having tax domicile in the affected municipalities, had a commercial, industrial, tourist or mercantile establishment or forestry, agricultural or livestock holdings located therein. Thus, deadlines that had not expired at the start of the fires will be extended for the submission and payment of declarations, self-assessments and supplementary documentation of taxes applied by Atriga (inheritance, donations, property transfers and documented legal acts, vehicle sales and local taxes) and to request extensions for submitting inheritance tax self-assessments.
Furthermore, tax burdens will be eased by approving measures in a law that will apply retroactively, such as exempting the tax charge on water used as a result of the fires (water and sewage treatment fees) or fees associated with autonomous procedures required due to the fires, including loss of vehicles or homes.
On the other hand, the Xunta will demand that the central government reduce or exempt tax payments as established by law with the declaration of disaster zones. If the State does not implement these actions, the Xunta will adopt them within its powers.
Fire balance in the community
During his speech, Rueda stated that Galicia recorded 666 fire outbreaks in August alone, affecting a total of 62 municipalities and causing the evacuation of approximately 400 people and the confinement of another 2,200. In this regard, Rueda recalled that the Xunta has always prioritised the safety of people and acted with prevention, reserving 200 places in new locations in the province of Ourense to relocate users of nursing homes or centres for people with disabilities if necessary—90 users were evacuated for safety reasons—or to transfer 170 children and monitors from a summer camp located near the fires.
In addition, Rueda once again thanked the great work of all the professionals who have been working for weeks in the fight against the fire in Galicia. Among them, 3,000 professionals from the prevention and extinction service; more than 200 firefighters, GES and Civil Protection (average data throughout a day); 343 members of municipal brigades (average data throughout a day); 122 environmental agents depending on the Ministry of the Environment; the National Police Unit assigned to Galicia; members of the UME and other army units or agents from various state security forces and bodies. In total, more than 7,000 professionals from different administrations and organisations.
Urgent measures on burnt land
Finally, the regional president emphasised that the Xunta is already working to implement urgent measures to act on the burnt land and mitigate the possible effects of erosion caused by rainfall or runoff. In this regard, he highlighted that military leaders and members of the regional government’s firefighting service held a meeting this morning to define needs and secure support from the army in tasks on the burnt terrain.
