It took six days for President Carlos Mazón to turn to the only senior official with solid experience in disaster management. This is Rosa Tourís, who, since last Monday, has been spokesperson during appearances following meetings of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) at Eliana.
The new visible face of Cecopi, captain of the Civil Guard and native of Vilanova de Arousa, had his last mission as head of service in the armed institute of the National Center for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures, an organization dependent on the Secretary of state. Security status of the Ministry of the Interior. She also headed the National Center for Missing Persons of Spain (CNDES), a pioneering organization in Europe. In short, his background contrasts with that of some senior officials in Mazón’s government who hold powers in emergencies.
“She is a very good spokesperson for reporting on technical issues,” say sources from the Presidency of the Generalitat. The same sources do not specify whether his role as spokesperson will be stabilized for the next appearances. Tourís sits at an intermediate point between the technical and political spheres. The captain of the Civil Guard, as confirmed by sources close to Cecopi, has been collaborating since last Wednesday in the management of the operation. In meetings, he remained in the background even if, after two consecutive appearances, he transmitted a more technical message than “president” Mazón, protagonist of disastrous management.
Rosa Tourís, dressed in a PPE jacket from the fire prevention service she heads, was spokesperson for the Cecopi meetings of the last two days (fifth and sixth since the DANA disaster). This Tuesday, during his second appearance, Tourís explained that the emergency services continue to search for possible victims in the Rambla del Poyo, the Magro river and at the mouth of the Túria and Albufera. The general director detailed the work of removing waste and personal effects from landfills to accelerate the cleaning of roads and villages and announced the opening of new offices in Algemesí, Alfafar and Albal of the National Police and Guard Civil for complaints from relatives concerning possible disappearances.
In addition to the technical aspects of the measures, the Director General also detailed other measures of political importance, such as the 48-hour extension of the decree that regulates movement restrictions due to the need to use heavy machinery to speed up the work of emergency teams in towns like Aldaia, Alaquàs, Picanya, Sedaví, Paiporta, Benetússer, Alfafar, Massanassa, Catarroja, Albal and Beniparrell.
Security and forensic training
With a degree in law, specialized in the field of security and professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and at the Higher Institute of Law and Economics (associated with Complutense), she joined the Civil Guard in 2001.
He holds several master’s degrees in areas such as security management and forensic medicine and internal training in the Civil Guard as a judicial police and information specialist. In addition, Tourís was number one in the promotion of Civil Guard officers (she was the first woman to obtain this qualification since the armed institute incorporated women in 1988).
His long official curriculum vitae details – in three pages – a section of awards and distinctions, such as several crosses, including the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard, which he received ten years ago from the hands of the King Felipe VI.
Replacement for the former general director of Vox
Mazón’s latest failure – the first that brings some sanity to the catastrophic management of DANA’s response – denotes the overreach of the emergency team of the Ministry of Justice and Interior led by Salomé Pradas. The curriculum vitae of Rosa Tourís contrasts with that of other senior officials of the Consell exercising important functions in emergency management, such as the general director of the Interior appointed last Tuesday, the expert in bullfighting and the former mayor of PP Vicente Huet.
Rosa Tourís was appointed general director of Fire Prevention on August 6, after the restructuring of the Consell following the departure of Vox from the Regional Executive. He replaced Francisco José Aparisi García, professor of statistics at the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV).
After the dismissal of Vox’s Minister of Justice and Interior, the powers to prevent forest fires passed into the hands of the Ministry of Environment, Infrastructure and Territory, headed by Vicente Martínez Mus.
