The Ministry of the Interior clears its name and attributes responsibility for the activation of territorial civil protection plans in response to DANA to the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón. The department of Fernando Grande-Marlaska issues a statement in which dissociates itself from the sending of this massive alertwhich fell, as he recalls, to the Generalitat, “as the governments of the autonomous communities of Madrid and Andalusia have already done in past emergency situations of similar characteristics”.
The Interior thus responds to the demonstrations by Mazón, who assured yesterday that his government had been following all protocols since Sunday to warn the population of the risks posed by DANA’s weather forecasts. “It is a protocolized system that has been followed by all the technicians, the high command, coordinated by the different administrations, it is previously established and coordinated by the Civil Protection of the Spanish Government,” said Mazón.
Considering these “incorrect information“, as considered by the Interior, the Ministry reiterates that “the activation of territorial Civil Protection plans in the event of an emergency of any nature whatsoever and its subsequent management is the exclusive responsibility of the regional authorities, competent in this regard. matter”. Internal sources assure that they do not want to “hold anyone” responsible for the moment when they decided to launch the mass alert, but only explain what the law says on civil protection and the powers of each administration.
He thus refers to the criticisms of recent hours concerning the supposedly late activation of the mobile alert of the Emergency Coordination Center (CEE) of the Generalitat Valenciana. The first it rang around 8:10 p.m. in all the terminals of residents residing in the province of Valencia, while it had been raining for hours and the damage was starting to be significant.
The Ministry of the Interior specifies in its letter that when the competent agencies detect possible natural risks that could affect the population, they “send notices to the autonomous Civil Protection agencies, which receive these alerts, carry out a risk analysis and assess their possible consequences. . He defends that it is these regional authorities which activate the corresponding alerts”, which may involve the activation of different plans depending on the type of risk.
In the case of the Valencian Community, where in towns like Utiel or Requena, one of the most affected, the dramatic images of the worst cold drop of the century in the region began to be seen on Tuesday afternoon, the situation operational was the following of the level 2. This means, as the Interior details, that the emergency can affect more than one municipality or province within the same autonomous community and that “operational direction is exercised by the autonomous Civil Protection authority, which activates the autonomous personal and material means necessary”. “.
“In this operational situation, it is up to the autonomous Civil Protection authorities to Management of the ES-Alert protocol to send alerts to the population who are in an area affected by emergencies or imminent disasters. In the case of DANA which affected the Valencian Community, sending this massive alert to the population was the responsibility of the Generalitat, as the governments of the autonomous communities of Madrid and Andalusia have already done during past emergencies of similar characteristics,” the statement said.
During a press conference, Mazón insisted this Thursday, in response to the statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior, that “all protocols” were followed in the management of reviews by DANA in the province of Valencia, reports Alberto Caparrós.
