. Golf courses have once again become a powerful ally in the fight against forest fires.

. The lakes located on golf courses provide readily available water for fighting forest fires. The course itself can also act as a very effective firebreak.

The ecological, social and economic drama caused by the numerous fires that are currently ravaging many parts of Spain, all of them of enormous environmental value, has highlighted the significant contribution of golf courses in the fight against their extinction in those areas where the fire occurs or advances in their vicinity.

In these difficult times, amidst critical situations requiring the support of dozens of institutions and individuals involved in extinguishing the fires, the positive contribution of golf courses has been revealed, with special mention for the Sierra de Mijas fire, where Lauro Golf and Alhaurín Golf offered their water reserves for its extinguishment. This powerful fire's flames and burned area reached within 100 and 500 meters, respectively, of the golf facilities.

Not surprisingly, the collaboration of golf courses in firefighting has become increasingly common in recent years and, on many occasions, is the only effective weapon to minimize the devastating effects of the flames.

The helicopters and aircraft involved in extinguishing the fire repeatedly filled their water collection devices, with a capacity of approximately 1,000-1,200 liters per refill, in order to drop them on the nearby forest fire.

Forest fires are one of the worst environmental scourges we suffer in Spain. The harmful effects they cause (loss of vegetation, fertile soil, biodiversity in general, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.) represent one of the biggest problems for society as a whole and for the technicians in the various public administrations of our country involved in this important issue.

In this context, golf courses repeatedly become a powerful ally in the fight against forest fires, which in environments close to urbanizations and towns without response capacity constitute in many cases the most effective resource for their extinction.