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This article reports on an economic valuation study of alternative fire prevention programs in the province of Málaga, southern Spain. The main aim of this study was to explore the social preferences for several forest fire prevention management issues. Fuel break programs were presented that differed in terms of cleaning technique (controlled grazing, prescribed burning and mechanical treatments), design (from traditional linear unshaded fire breaks to more landscape and environmentally friendly structures, such as shaded fuel breaks) and density (linked to annual burnt area). Results show that the population was clearly interested in the potential of the proposed programs to reduce fire. Lessons learnt from this study could be relevant for the development of fire prevention policies and specific prevention campaigns in Mediterranean forests. This article presents an economic valuation study of several aspects related to the management of fuel break networks. It shows how citizens' welfare is influenced by eventual changes in fuel break management programs that have to do with the cleaning techniques employed, the design and overall, with the potential to reduce fire risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]