“We call for a major debate to be held now, again, so that swift measures can be taken to prevent this situation from happening again next summer,” emphasised Luísa Salgueiro, president of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP).

Leaving a board meeting, the ANMP president explained to Lusa news agency that, during the morning, an analysis was conducted of "the catastrophic scale" and "the critical points" of this year's rural fires, and a document was drafted to be sent to the government.

"We are monitoring the measures taken by the government to respond to what happened, but we continue to emphasise the importance of taking other measures related to the imperative need to review hazard certificates and strengthen the powers of municipal councils so they can provide other types of responses that are currently prohibited".

Among the proposals to be sent to the government is the provision of financial resources to address preventive forestry, surveillance, and deterrence policies, including the mobilization of the Armed Forces during critical periods.

"We need to invest in the primary firebreak network and in accelerating the rural property registration process. Although the BUPI [One-Stop Building Counter] is operational, we still have a large portion of unidentified land," he said.

She also told Lusa news agency that it is necessary to consider the command network in the area of ​​civil protection, which "has been shown not to respond effectively."

"We also emphasise the importance of valuing the work and condition of firefighters, volunteer firefighters, who never receive due attention. We see that, in these most difficult situations, they are the ones on the front lines, always with the support of municipalities, which replace the ministry, providing equipment, training, and building renovations," she stated.

The document, to be submitted to the government, also suggests the universalization of video surveillance in high-risk areas.