Lorraine Williamson
Spain’s worst fire seasons are colliding with an old idea made new. Firefighter donkeys in Spain are being used to graze down scrub and create living firebreaks across high-risk landscapes.
The approach is low-tech, cheap to maintain and, crucially, it works alongside human crews when heat and wind make machinery unsafe. This summer alone, wildfires in provinces such as Ourense, León, Zamora, Cáceres, Tarifa and Tres Cantos have burned more than 25,000 hectares and forced about 5,000 people from their homes. Targeted grazing is now part of the prevention toolkit.
From village companion to climate tool
For generations, donkeys kept paths, ditches and meadows in check as they moved through rural villages. However, that quiet maintenance disappeared with depopulation. Groups such as Burru are restoring the practice with structured, supervised grazing plans. Donkeys don’t just eat grass. They nibble blackberry thickets, nettles and woody stems that act like fuses in a drought-stressed forest.
Doñana’s decade-long proof
In Doñana, a team manages 18 donkeys behind mobile fencing, watering and monitoring them as they “mow” strips of vegetation. Over ten years, their managed zones in Hinojos—an EU-recognised biodiversity area known for the Iberian lynx—have not seen a fire start within the grazed corridors. The lesson is simple. Good planning plus daily oversight turns animals into highly effective risk reducers.
Why donkeys, not sheep or goats?
Donkeys tolerate heat well and need less water than many herd animals. They move confidently over rough ground where smaller livestock can be injured, and they compact soils less than heavier grazers. Their calm nature and disease resistance add reliability. One caveat: they’re selective feeders. Without guidance they may snack on young trees, so paddocks and rotation schedules matter.
Man and animal, not machine vs animal
In open fields, tractors are faster. Inside dense pine or scrub, they are not. Donkeys can go where machinery can’t and they don’t spark on rock or overheat. Teams on the ground still set the plan, move fences and check welfare. The tragic failure of an unsupervised attempt in Valencia—where dozens of animals died—shows why management and local expertise are non-negotiable.
Scaling up, sharing know-how
Doñana’s unit has already shared methods with Catalonia, Asturias and the Basque Country. The model is portable: map the fuel, set up paddocks, rotate grazing, and monitor regrowth. Paired with seasonal burns, clearing crews and surveillance, it adds a resilient layer to Spain’s fire strategy. As summers get hotter and rural budgets tighter, firefighter donkeys in Spain could become a familiar sight on the frontline of prevention.
What Spain can do next
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Fund regional pilots targeting the highest fuel loads near towns and evacuation routes.
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Train municipal brigades in paddock design, rotation and animal welfare.
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Build partnerships between grazing projects, park authorities and civil protection.
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Track outcomes publicly: hectares treated, fuel reduction, and incident reports.
If Spain wants fewer emergency evacuations and safer fire seasons, restoring this humble ally to the landscape is a pragmatic start.
Source: 20minutos.es