Mr Piracés said the solution to Spain’s wildfire problem required a complete rethink of how rural Spain is managed.
“Clearly, we have a climate problem and there is a problem with the state of our rural environment. The solution has to come from the whole society, to have more people living in the countryside and recognise and reward the work we do here.
“Otherwise, we are going to lose the countryside, lose most of our forests to fire and be left with nothing.”
However, short of addressing climate change, Dr Smith warned that policy changes might be too little too late.
“I think they are realising there’s very little we can do now on the ground in terms of firefighting and prevention,” he said.
“Ultimately, the climate’s going to continue to change and that’s the one thing they are focusing on.”