The distance from the hottest fronts, the facilities available at airports and refuelling. The head of the Civil Protection Department describes how aerial operations to extinguish the flames work: “I realise that local people would like to have a Canadair on their doorstep, but it doesn’t work like that. This year there are six bases, but this may change from time to time”

Measures such as these “are very costly, unfair and rather regressive. However, we could consider managing specific categories”, said the chair of the Chamber of Deputies’ Finance Committee after the Council of Ministers effectively postponed a decision on the matter yesterday. “Reopening coal-fired power stations? I don’t think we’ll ever reach that point”