Madrid High Court Orders Region to Allocate €38 million to Firefighters

Spain's Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid (Madrid High Court) issued a final ruling obligating the Comunidad de Madrid to allocate roughly €38 million that had been diverted from the special firefighters' levy to the fire service. The funds, collected as a 5 % surcharge on home‑insurance policies, are legally earmarked for investments in equipment, vehicles and infrastructure. The court relied on a 2020 Spanish Supreme Court precedent from a similar dispute in Asturias to reject the regional government's argument that the Madrid case was different.

The decision comes amid a series of severe forest fires in the region, prompting regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso to describe the situation as the "worst fire in history" while she denied that any money had been misappropriated. The ruling is irreversible and the regional administration must now redirect the €38 million to the intended fire‑service improvements.