So what is the significance of the 3 photos I posted yesterday?

Well, I think it was Gerard Brenan who wrote [in The Spanish Labyrinth c.1940] that a history of its people is the history of its land development. Galicia is famous for its tiny plots of land, its minifundios. For one reason and another, Galicia’s landmass – to which the people are reputed to have a mythical attachment – is divided into small [often tiny] plots. And many of these have multiple owners. The scope for jealousy and dispute is enormous and family feuds are not uncommon. Equally large is the scope for different land management. The 3 pictures I posted earlier show this clearly and I assume they’re owned by different people. One of them has invested in clearance but his/her neighbours on either side haven’t.

The relevant ones are those covered with undergrowth [the copse] or scrub [the open land]. Imagine thousands of these – possibly millions – all over Galicia. And you’ll see what I meant a few days ago when I said Galicia was a tinderbox just waiting for a flame and a strong, dry wind. And oddly enough, when I visited the scene of one of the big fires two days ago, it was noticeable that the eucalyptus trees had only burned half way up. It was as if the fire had travelled very swiftly but horizontally in the strong wind, feeding primarily on the thick, dry undergrowth.

This point was picked up by a neighbour of mine yesterday, as we discussed the causes of the conflagrations. He, too, was of the opinion that mismanagement of the land was a fundamental factor at work. He contrasted Galicia – as Fernando had done earlier – with Asturias and Cantabria. There, he insisted, people still worked the land properly and took better care of it.

So, if these vast expanses of undergrowth and scrub really are the major factor I suspect them to be, and if the farmers can’t be relied on to clear the land [either because they can’t or won’t or because they’ve left the land for the richer pickings of the coast], can we expect to see some initiative on the part of the Galician Xunta? Or will they continue to hunt the elusive criminal gangs?

Of course, the existence of the undergrowth doesn’t rule out the work of pyromaniacs but it does help to explain why ‘normal’ fires can do so much damage so quickly when they get out of hand. Or are sparked by a bottle left in the sun. In the last case, of course, there is no human agency at all, criminal or otherwise. All that’s required is stupidity and negligence.