Bages is a region that links wine production and high wildfire risk, just one hour from Barcelona. The Fire Wine team is organizing a workshop there on 3 December 2024.

In Bages, living with fire is a reality. It was the county with the largest vineyard area in Catalonia between 1860 and 1890, with over 27,700 hectares. However, the progressive abandonment of agricultural land allowed for the expansion and continuity of forest cover. Between 1925 and 1950, several challenges accumulated: tensions between landowners and tenant farmers, the Civil War, high cereal prices, and improvements to the logistics network (roads and railways).

By 1989, vineyard area had dropped to just 500 hectares. During the 1980s and 1990s, some traditional estates replanted vines to protect their historic buildings from wildfires and established wineries that have since become regional benchmarks (e.g., Abadal, Oller del Mas). The DO Pla de Bages, created in 1995, covers the limits of Bages county. Today, it includes 17 wineries, which are developing a wine tourism strategy just one hour from Barcelona. All of them contribute to the maintenance of strategic open areas for wildfire risk management.

Their estates are often made up largely of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) forests, which are not economically exploitable. This represents both a burden and a responsibility in terms of wildfire risk, especially under growing climate pressures.

Furthermore, the vineyards must be fenced to reduce losses caused by wildlife pressure (deer in spring, wild boars in summer and autumn). More remote or steeply sloped plots are difficult to access for crop treatment or irrigation during drought periods, leading to higher operating costs.

The critical wildfire risk, combined with the low proportion of open areas, makes viticulture essential for the safety of the Bages region and the surrounding metropolitan areas.

Wildfire map of Bages