The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, called on Wednesday to strengthen public institutions and services to respond to emergencies such as DANA and warned: “Let us not forget that we are vulnerable, that zero risk does not exist.” Illa stressed that the government acted with “caution and maximum prudence” and defended that the mobile phone alerts sent to residents of 17 Catalan regions were activated “duly”.
Just two days after DANA gave its last blows in Catalonia and generated several mobility problems that could be resolved on Monday, the President of the Generalitat appeared in Parliament to report on its management and advance the next steps of the Executive, which involves improving civil protection plans and reviewing activities in flood zones.
Catalonia will require municipalities to have a civil protection plan in two years, update its emergency model, review activities in flood-prone areas and grant aid to compensate for economic damage in the worst areas. most affected. Illa clarified that of the 521 municipalities that must have a civil protection plan, 225 already have one in force, 238 others have expired and 60 others do not have it.
“Let us not forget that we are vulnerable, that zero risk does not exist. We live in rich societies, but not in zero-risk societies. There are vulnerabilities and lately we have seen a lot of evidence of them, such as the pandemic, the La Palma volcano and now the Dana. Let’s not forget that sometimes we think we are supermen and no, we are vulnerable,” Illa underlined, reports EFE.
The opposition avoided entering into conflict with the government of Salvador Illa over the management of DANA, even if its investiture partners, the ERC and the Comuns, as well as the CUP, demanded more ambition to make facing the climate crisis. The groups agreed to thank the Government for the way it kept them informed during this rainy episode.
The juntas and parties of the left wing of the House, on the other hand, censored the actions of the Valencian Generalitat, which Illa avoided. According to the president, it is up to Valencians to “hold President Carlos Mazón accountable” for his management of DANA.
Junts spokesperson Mònica Sales requested a comprehensive monograph on how to update emergency and prevention policies, as well as a working meeting between the government and the groups to agree on how to now allocate the aid to the Valencian Community. He also praised the Catalan emergency system, which he defined as a “reference”.
On behalf of ERC, spokesperson Marta Vilalta defended that it is better to send alerts in advance rather than doing it “late”, and asked to “better inform citizens” about what what to do when these messages are received. On the other hand, he proposed creating a study commission to analyze how to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.
The president of the popular group, Alejandro Fernández, highlighted the attention offered by the 112 as an area of improvement for future similar episodes and regretted that the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) has “work pending » to undertake.
The president of the Comuns group, Jéssica Albiach, warned Illa that the climate crisis cannot be faced “neither with denial nor with delay”: “You have not used the word climate change once,” he told her. reproach. And on behalf of the CUP, deputy Laia Estrada called to “put an end” to “the development policy that autonomism has perpetuated” and to always legislate taking into account the climate emergency.
