Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment and responsible – after Minister Teresa Ribera – for the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcarhas been accumulating positions within the PSOE for years. Morán was, in 2017, one of the architects of the return of Pedro Sánchez to the post of secretary general of the PSOE.
As OKDIARIO revealedthis official of the Ministry of Ecological Transition was in telephone contact on the tragic Tuesday of DANA with the Minister of the Interior of the Generalitat, Salomé Pradas, to whom he admitted the high risk of rupture of the Forata dam (Valencia). Morán was in Colombia at DANA’s most critical moment, participating in COP16, the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity.
Although the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) had warned of the risk in the Valencian Community and other regions of Spain, especially at that time, Hugo Morán He chose to move to Cali to participate in this summit, where he remained even after the tragedy.
Positions at the PSOE
The current Secretary of State for the Environmentaccumulates positions within the PSOEsince the beginning of his political career already in 1987as councilor at the Town Hall of Lena (Asturias). He remained in office until 1995, when he became mayor (until 2007). A year later, he became a deputy (2008-2011).
Within the PSOE, he also held various organic positions. In 2008, for example, he was appointed Federal Secretary for the Environment and Rural Development. Later he entered the socialist executive as federal secretary for spatial planning and sustainability. In 2014 he ceased to be part of Ferraz’s core group, but was recovered by Pedro Sanchezthree years later, as federal secretary of Space for the ecological transition of the economy. Already in 2018, he was chosen by Teresa Ribera as Secretary of State for the Environment.
Moran is very linked to Sánchez. He is one of the socialist leaders closest to the President of the Government and accompanied him in the most difficult times, when he was defenestrated from the Federal Committee of the PSOE in 2016. Previously, he has already held important positions at Rodríguez Zapatero and Rubalcaba. . After Sánchez’s return to Ferraz, he re-entered the socialist executive with Cristina Narbona. The socialist leader began his relationship with Morán when he started as a deputy in 2012.
In Colombia
As revealed by OKDIARIO, Hugo Morán went to Colombia despite warnings about DANA and did not cancel his trip after the tragedy.
On October 30, he participated in the plenary session of COP16, where he spoke lukewarmly of the dramatic situation experienced by several Spanish communities. In an intervention just three minutesthe Secretary of State thanked “the demonstrations of solidarity” with Spain “on this day of mourning”. “No country is immune from major global crises. Nature challenges us and we continue not to respond to its call,” declared the socialist leader.
Call at 8:00 p.m.
As revealed by OKDIARIO, the Secretary of State did not contact the Generalitat until eight o’clock in the afternoon the same Tuesday, when several towns were already flooded and the situation was dramatic in different areas of the region. At that time, as this newspaper published, Morán telephoned advisor Salomé Pradasadmitting that he could not guarantee that the Forata dam – one of the critical points – could withstand the rising waters and that there was a high risk of rupture.
The reservoir was already in a critical situation, scenario 3which literally meant a “high probability of breakagewhich makes the appearance of the flood wave generated by the breakdown or breakage practically inevitable. If this dam breaks, The consequences would have been disastrous. due to massive flooding in riverside towns in the region. Fortunately, the reservoir was able to contain the water and prevent an even greater tragedy.
At that time the meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center was held, convened by the Mazón government at 5 p.m., and in the presence –telematics– from the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé.
After this telephone conversation between Pradas and Hugo Morán, and after deliberation and agreement within CECOPI- It was decided to send a massive message to the populationarrived at 8:11 p.m.
But the high risk was elsewhere, Poyo Ramblawhich has not received the same attention from the government.
In fact, as this media also published, the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar, responsible for monitoring the flows, only alerted of the situation until 6:43 p.m.while several towns were already flooded. This communication was done via a simple email.
