He PP considers that the DANA that has devastated several autonomies, especially the Valencian Generalitat, is a “one emergency of national interest” and that is how the Government should have declared it on “the evening of Tuesday, October 29”, assuming their part of responsibility in preventive actions and alerting the population. In addition, it warns that “there is no time limit for this emergency declaration and, therefore, “it is on time” even if “it is delayed.”
“The Government of Spain You cannot look the other way and not assume your share of responsibility. both in preventive actions and alerting the population, as well as in the first hours of the emergency and in the recovery actions that are going to be carried out,” assures the PP, which points out that the Executive “has the information and capacity with its monitoring means to assess the severity of the risks” throughout the territory.
This is reflected in an informative note that the Popular Party has prepared in the midst of the criticisms that have begun to cross Government and opposition on the responsibility for the declaration of emergency before DANA, which has caused more than 200 deaths and thousands of people affected, physically or materially.
La Palma or Filomena volcano
Firstly, the PP recalls the regulatory framework in the face of this catastrophe, starting with Law 17/2015, of July 9, of the National Civil Protection System” (SNPC); Royal Decree 524/2023, of June 20, which approves the Basic Civil Protection Standard” that regulates the bases for “the improved coordination and effectiveness of the actions of the different Public Administrations”; or the resolution of the Ministry of the Interior of December 16, 2020, of the Undersecretariat, which includes the General State Plan for Civil Protection Emergencies (PLEGEM).
Next, it reviews the “major emergencies” since the National Civil Protection System Law (SNPC) of 2015 (apart from the pandemic which was considered a health emergency), such as La Palma volcanic eruption In September 2021, the storm Filomena in January 2021, which affected several communities; and forest fires like the one in Losacio (Zamora) in June 2022.
It also remembers floods, such as the floods of the Ebro in 2018, 2021 and 2024, and the floods in Cantabria in 2019, they left considerable material damage, but there were no fatalities in any of them. Furthermore, he adds that “in 2018, in the town of Sant Llorenç (Mallorca) there were thirteen deaths“; “in 2019 a DANA that mainly affected the provinces of Alicante and Murcia caused seven deaths”; and in 2023 “a DANA caused 6 deaths in Madrid and Toledo.”
In none of these emergencies, the PP continues, “was there a perception as clear from the first moment as that of last Tuesday, October 29, of the enormous magnitude of the catastrophe,” since, as it highlights, the images “did not allow doubt that the consequences were going to be tragic“.
Emergency of national interest
The PP maintains that the basic rule of Civil defense establishes in its article 9 that the General State Plan for Civil Protection Emergencies (PLEGEM) “is the framework planning instrument of the National Civil Protection Systemand contains the organic-functional framework, the capacity mobilization mechanisms and the coordination and direction scheme of the Public Administrations.
It also stands out that the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies (DGPCE), as the management center of PLEGEM, and its National Emergency Monitoring and Coordination Center (CENEM), They normally operate in alert mode and permanent monitoring, in connection, equally permanent, with the Emergency Centers of the autonomous communities.
According to its nature, he continues, PLEGEM “is always activated in this alert phase and permanent monitoring”, so that “the Government of Spain has the information and capacity with its monitoring means to assess the severity of the risks” in the territory.
The PP remembers what emergencies of national interest are, according to the Law of the National Civil Protection System: those that require “for the protection of people and property the application of Organic Law 4/1981, of June 1, regulating alarm, exception and siege states”; those that are “necessary” provide for the coordination of diverse administrations because they affect several communities and require a contribution of resources at a supra-autonomous level”; and those that “due to their effective or foreseeable dimensions require a national direction.”
There is no limit to the declaration of emergency
The PP emphasizes that the second and third points are met taking into account that in this week’s DANA “there have been deaths in three CCAA and others have been affected to a lesser extent”, “it has required the contribution of resources at a supra-autonomous level” and “the effective and foreseeable dimensions and on the same night of October 29 to 30 it was seen that they required a national direction.”
Of course, he emphasizes that “there is no time limit for the declaration of an Emergency of National Interest”, so “the Government of Spain It’s time to assume your responsibility“If after this catastrophe, an Emergency of National Interest is not declared, points 2 and 3 of article 28 would have to be deleted, accepting that this Government will never assume its responsibility,” he adds.
The PP also highlights that article 29 of the SNPC Law indicates that “the declaration of national interest will correspond to the head of the Ministry of the Interior, either on his own initiative or at the request of the Autonomous Communities or of the Government Delegates in them.” And he warns that “the number of media involved in this emergency” caused by DANA makes “its coordination for the emergency services of a community very complicated.” In addition , emphasizes that many of these means “are very specific, such as the number of air means that have participated in the first hours, with the great difficulty in coordination and control that this entails.”
According to the PP, the Government has “a specialized tool and perfectly trained in Command and Control for major catastrophes such as the EMU“, as specified in the articles of the General State Civil Protection Emergency Plan (PLEGEM).
“The direction corresponds to the minister of the interior”
The PP admits that a point that “draws attention” is the announcement by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Angel Victor Torresthat the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskawill be part of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (CECOPI) established by the Directorate of the Valencian Community Plan. “That is to say, who should have been done post of the Emergency Management according to the SNPC Law (article 30), becomes an element of coordination of the Community with the State”, he highlights.
For all this, the PP assures that the Government of Spain “cannot look the other way and not assume its part of responsibility” because this catastrophe is “a emergency of national interestwhere the direction corresponds to the Minister of the Interior and the Operational Directorate to the Lieutenant General of the UME and this is what the Government of Spain should have declared on the evening of Tuesday, October 29, once the impact of DANA had been verified.
“If we talk about prevention or anticipation, the Government of Spain should establish regulations to regulate in which situations the CCAA can make notices to the population and what implications it has on the activity of companies, schools, means of transport, etc.”, he concludes.
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