PP report concludes that Sánchez should have declared a state of national emergency

“The Spanish government cannot look awaywithout assuming their share of responsibility both in the prevention and alert actions of the population, as well as in the first hours of the emergency and in the recovery actions that will be carried out”, indicates the report, to which EL had access SPANISH.

“This disaster,” he concludes, “is an emergency of national interest, whose direction corresponds to the Minister of the Interior and operational direction to the lieutenant general of the Military Emergency Unit (UME). as the Government of Spain should have declared on the afternoon of Tuesday October 29, once the impact of DANA was confirmed.

Indeed, the Central Executive considered this option during the crisis cabinet held Tuesday at Moncloa around midnight. But he ultimately ruled out this possibility because it would have meant withdrawing exclusive command from the president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón.

As reported by EL ESPAÑOL, the government relies on the fact that Pedro Sánchez telephoned Mazón from India on Tuesday afternoon, and told him that for the moment material and human aid from the administration central was not necessary.

Then the president of the Generalitat “dragged his feet” for 48 hours —adds the government—until requesting the presence of the Army on Thursday afternoon, while the death toll continued to rise.

However, Law 17/2015 of the National Civil Protection System, adopted during the Rajoy era, allowed the government to declare a state of national emergency, in order to assume sole command and coordinate all means of help, given the seriousness of the events.

Article 28.2 of the aforementioned norm establishes the three cases in which the Government can approve this declaration: when states of alarm, exception or siege are in force; in the event of disasters in which “it is necessary to provide for the coordination of the different Administrations because affect several autonomous communities and require a provision of resources at a supra-autonomous level” and, finally, those which “because of their actual or foreseeable dimensions require national guidance”.

Two such circumstances occur in the DANA recorded on Tuesday. First, torrential rains and subsequent overflowing of river beds caused deaths in three autonomous communities: mainly in the Valencian Community, but also in Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia.

And secondly, the disaster is of such magnitude that public services in the region have been completely overwhelmed and the intervention of the army has been necessary: ​​there are already more than 200 dead, hundreds missing and entire populations still without water or electricity for four days. .

This was recognized by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last Wednesday: “What we are seeing is devastating: Entire villages covered in mud, people seeking shelter in trees and cars dragged by the fury of the waters. Dozens of people have lost their lives and thousands are displaced. »

That is to say, just as the deaths caused by DANA began to be counted, the European Commission had no doubt that Spain needed EU help to mitigate the effects of the disaster, but the government avoided declaring a national emergency to deal with the consequences of the disaster. coordination of all media.

According to the aforementioned law of the National Civil Protection Service, it is up to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to approve the declaration of “emergency of national interest”, “either on his own initiative or at the request of request from the Autonomous Communities or the Government delegates.” in them”.

It is therefore not necessary for any of the autonomous communities concerned to formally request the declaration from the Government, even if they must be informed in advance of this decision, states article 29 of the aforementioned regulation.

The declaration can also be approved on the initiative of the minister, or at the request of the Government delegate of the affected area. In this case, the Government delegate in Valencia, Pilar Bernabé, participated in all the meetings of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) of the region, during which the risks were assessed based on the information provided by the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet) and by the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar.

Once the declaration is approved, the Minister of the Interior will have to assume sole command of the management of the tragedy, that is to say “the organization and coordination of actions and management of all state, regional and local resources of the affected territorial area.

For its part, operational command would correspond to the head of the UME, Military Major General Francisco Javier Marcos Rodríguez.

After the first phase of the pandemic, in December 2020, upon the proposal of Marlaska, the Council of Ministers approved the General State Plan for Civil Protection Emergencies (PLEGEM), which develops the aforementioned law and establishes the mechanisms for resource mobilization and program coordination. between the different Administrations.

According to this Plan, the National Center for Monitoring and Coordination of Emergencies (CENEM) -which depends on the Ministry of the Interior- must work”usually in alert and permanent surveillance mode, in relation, also permanent, with the Emergency Centers of the Autonomous Communities and Cities (…), with the aim of receive and transmit notices, alerts and any other relevant information for the detection of possible risk situations for civil protection, as well as their evaluation, appropriate dissemination and support for their management and management bodies.

The Ministry of Ecological Transition criticized the Generalitat Valenciana for not having correctly assessed the risk posed on Tuesday by the information disseminated by the Hydrographic Confederation Aemet and Júcar.

However, according to the plan promoted by Marlaska, his ministry’s National Center for Surveillance and Coordination of Emergencies (CENEM) should have assessed these risks to warn the Generalitat Valenciana. He also had the power to issue warnings to the population. But he didn’t do it.

Following the request for aid launched on Thursday by Carlos Mazón, with more than 2,000 members of the Armed Forces deployed in the Valencian Community, with the presence of the three armies: the Air Force (Sappers and Deployment Support Squadron air), Navy (Third Navy) and land (Transmission Regiment No. 21, Information Operations Regiment, Lusitania Cavalry Regiment No. 8 Parachute Regiment and Zaragoza Parachute Regiment No. 5), informs Brais Cedeira.

However, the resources provided have so far proven insufficient. “They have forgotten us,” the mayor of Alfafar denounced this Thursday, Juan Ramon Adsuara“We haven’t seen a fire truck, nor the Civil Guard, nor the EMU for days. Nobody comes here.”

“There are people who live with corpses in their homesit’s very sad. We have not seen any emergency vehicles from any institution, we only have the Local Police and a Regional Police patrol,” lamented the councilor in his dramatic appeal.

Neighbors in towns like Paiporta have been without water and electricity since Tuesday evening, in some cases look at dead bodies inside their homes while waiting for help to arrive to evacuate them.

They stay locked in the house at night, in the dark, for fear of the looting that takes place in businesses and homes. In most cases, local police officers are completely overwhelmed by the looting.

Meanwhile, and while waiting for help to arrive, hundreds of young people from these villages walk for hours to Valencia, to be able to bring water and a little food home.