Óscar Puente and Ayuso exchange insults in the midst of the fire crisis: "If there's a clown, it's you"

The fire crisis ended this Friday in a direct confrontation between Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Óscar Puente. The Madrid president called anyone who takes advantage of the emergency to "stir up the atmosphere" a "mamarracho" (clown/buffoon), and the Minister of Transport returned the insult a few hours later.

"You know a lot about stirring up the atmosphere. It's what you live for. Now you ask for help from that Government you spend your life insulting and discrediting. If there's a mamarracha in Spain, it's you," Puente wrote on the social network 'X'.

The clash occurred after the Community of Madrid asked the central Government to take over the management of the fires. Interior accepted the request and declared the emergency of national interest, so the minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has since directed the operation and the Military Emergency Unit coordinates actions on the ground.

Madrid hands over command and Puente opens the debate on resources

Puente had already accused the regional governments of the PP during the morning of resorting to the Military Emergency Unit while lowering taxes for the highest incomes and weakening their public services. The minister has questioned that the UME ends up functioning as the extinction service for the popular communities when the situation becomes uncontrollable.

Ayuso responded from Cenicientos, where she participated in the first meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center. The president assured that the coordination between administrations is being "good and absolutely necessary" and asked to concentrate all efforts on protecting the population.

"The first mamarracho who gets in the way to stir up the atmosphere, that's on him," she declared before demanding that political leaders and administrations stop "stupidities" and "nonsense."

Puente defended that the ministries are dedicated to the emergency and separated that collaboration from the political debate on prevention. In his opinion, explanations should be demanded now because, when the flames disappear, the discussion about extinction means is postponed until the following summer.

"The moment is now. When the mountain burns," he insisted. The PP has described his actions as "miserable" and has called for loyal cooperation between administrations, although the minister has maintained his criticisms regarding the financing of regional services.

More than 19,000 evacuated or confined

The political dispute has coincided with an emergency that Ayuso herself has described as the worst experienced in the Community of Madrid. More than 19,000 people have been evacuated or confined, four municipalities have been evacuated, and numerous residents are still waiting to return to their homes.

The Community is monitoring some 1,200 users of elderly care homes and centers for people with disabilities who have had to be relocated. Nine health centers have temporarily closed, and about a hundred people have received attention for mild smoke inhalation or anxiety attacks.

The inspection carried out in El Encinar del Alberche has confirmed 43 homes destroyed and damages of varying degrees in another 286. The teams will have to repeat the evaluation in Pelayos de la Presa and San Martín de Valdeiglesias when they can safely access them.

Grande-Marlaska has defended that coordination with Madrid is being "perfect, absolute, and of total loyalty". The Ministry of Interior maintains command of the emergency while extinction services work to close perimeters and determine when evacuated residents can return.