Political, social, and cultural barriers to traditional pastoralism as a wildfire risk mitigation strategy in Central Spain

This article analyses the political, social, and cultural barriers that hinder the implementation of wildfire mitigation policies in Spain via traditional ecological knowledge–based extensive grazing and cultural burning. Using a Q methods survey deployed among stakeholder respondents in Tragacete (Cuenca) and Piedrahíta (Ávila)—two sites with contrasting socio-ecological trajectories governed by the two most voted left and right statewide parties in the Spanish political system—we sought to reveal the underlying frames conditioning fire governance in these locations. Our findings suggest that frames on the role of traditional pastoralism in wildfire risk mitigation are correlated to a greater extent with territorial rather than occupational stakeholder identities. Respondents in Piedrahíta, located within the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon governed by the conservative Partido Popular, showed a greater scepticism towards all public administration interventions in the territory, while those in Tragacete, governed by the progressive Partido Socialista Obrero Español party, were more sympathetic towards European Union and autonomous community rural development policies. Generally speaking, individuals in both sites advocated for the integration of local community perspectives into multi-level governance systems for a more socially just climate adaptation process in Mediterranean rural communities.