For the first time since the tragedy broke out in Valencia, the general head of the Military Emergency Unit appeared after the meeting of the Crisis Committee held this Monday at the Moncloa Palace under the presidency of Felipe VI. General Francisco Javier Marcos detailed the military system put in place and assured that he had mobilized his men preventively in view of the weather forecasts and while waiting to receive orders from the Generalitat of Valencia.
“At alert level 2, the one who directs the emergency is the Autonomous Community, the one who decides where we go or where we do not go is the Autonomous Community. It is the emergency director who tells us where to act, and we did it with discipline. “I can deploy and mobilize my men but I cannot enter until the emergency director of the Generalitat authorizes me,” he said.
The head of the UME explained that the battalions available in Valencia had been prepared since Tuesday. “The day the emergency broke out, the UME was monitoring the situation. I had two legal tools: early warning and early deployment. When I saw what could happen, I used both of these tools. I ordered all the soldiers of battalion number 3 located at the Jaime I base in Valencia to go to their posts. 500 perfectly equipped soldiers. I ordered the deployment so they would be ready. From the time I gave the order until they left it took 15 minutes. As soon as the Generalitat gave us the green light, we were in the emergency zone within minutes,” he detailed.
General Marcos also explained why the EMU was slow to start working on the ground: “I have the legal capacity to deploy my soldiers, but for them to act we need the order from the command emergency of the Autonomous Community, it is a question of respecting the law. »
“As soon as I saw what could happen, I alerted 1,000 soldiers and as soon as we had the green light to intervene in the rest of the province, 1,000 soldiers were deployed so that the people of Valencia could see on Wednesday at dawn that we “It is true that we did not intervene quickly because the weather did not prevent them and for a question of order and discipline: we could not add chaos to a truly chaotic situation! ” emphasized in reference to the fact that they were awaiting orders from the Autonomous Community.
The head of the Military Emergency Unit recognized the “pain” of the population in the areas affected by the damage in the province of Valencia but asked for “patience” given the complexity of the situation and the problems mobility and assured that the armed forces are doing everything possible.
Marcos indicated that there are currently 6,600 members of the Armed Forces deployed and that at 8:00 p.m. this figure will reach 7,800, to which must be added many others (5,000 in the case of the Army) who support operations from a a number of countries. distance.
The general head of the EMU stressed that “the degree of destruction is such that mobility is limited”. “It’s such a complexity that it requires two things: discipline and patience,” he added.
In this sense, after recognizing that “it is difficult because emotion and pain make it difficult”, he asked the population to “understand that the 7,800 soldiers of the Armed Forces are doing everything they can , by doubling their positions.” there are more personnel available to be able to transport it on planes.
According to General Marcos, troops from the EMU, Army, Navy and Air Force are present in the 69 affected villages, but “it’s not just the villages, it’s the The roads that connect these villages are the bridges. , these are isolated houses.
“We do not leave a home behind us,” he assured, affirming that the soldiers “give their all at all times”, with periods of duty of twelve hours, after which they return exhausted. “You cannot question behavior of the armed forces which is not what it should be,” he insisted, defending that they do it “of course, in fulfilling our mission, which is to save to serve.
