The Ministry of the Interior denies the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, and assures that the “territorial civil protection plans” are an autonomous competence. The regional president tried to hold the central government responsible this Wednesday for the delay in alerting the population about the risks of DANA, even though it was his administration which sent an SMS to citizens on Thursday recommending that they refrain from to travel. the province of Valencia.
Mazón assured that the alerts issued depend on the Integrated Operational Coordination Center, the place where emergency interventions in the areas affected by DANA are coordinated, and where they “obey the protocolized and standardized acts”, indicated the regional president. in the statements that were published on his Instagram account.
“This is a previously established protocol which is also coordinated by the General Directorate of Civil Protection of the Spanish Government. This is the protocol that was followed at all times,” said Mazón, after the criticism received after the arrival of the alert sent by the Generalitat Valenciana when hundreds of people were already stuck.
Faced with these accusations, the Interior published a press release denying any “erroneous information”. In this press release, the department of Fernando Grande-Marlaska ensures that “the activation of territorial civil protection plans in the event of an emergency of any nature whatsoever and their subsequent management are the exclusive responsibility of the autonomous authorities, competent in this regard. matter “. to the provisions of current legislation. In fact, it was the Generalitat, and not the central administration, which launched an SMS alert on Tuesday at 8:12 p.m. to all residents of the community to avoid going out.
Interior explains that, according to the regulations in force, “when the competent bodies detect possible natural risks that could affect the population, property, infrastructure, cultural heritage, etc., they send notices to the autonomous civil protection bodies , who receive these alerts. . , carry out a risk analysis and assess its possible consequences.
Based on these analyses, “the regional Civil Protection authorities activate the corresponding alerts, which may involve the activation of different plans depending on the type of risk”, for example, “forest fires, seismic movements, floods, natural phenomena unfavorable weather conditions”, welcomes the Ministry.
Once the regional authorities have activated “the emergency phase of their territorial Civil Protection plans”, several operational situations can be decreed which extend, depending on the case, to the municipal or regional level.
Considering the DANA that hit some regions of 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 emergency situations of similar characteristics,” Interior said. decision, in response to Mazón’s accusations.
In order to avoid this crossover of accusations in a tragedy which caused the death of nearly a hundred people, the Interior calls on all regional and local administrations affected by DANA to join forces and protect the population .
