An audio contradicts the emergency counselor: at 7:15 p.m. she was already discussing the sending of alerts by DANA

An audio reveals the conversation that the Minister of Justice and Interior, Salomé Pradas, responsible for the Emergency Department of the Valencian Country, had with the emergency coordination center (CECOPI) to launch massive alerts to mobile phones through the system ES-Alert by the danger of DANA. According to sources that have confirmed to La SER, this meeting took place at 7:15 p.m., which contradicts Pradas’ version, which claimed to be unaware of the existence of this mechanism until 8:00 p.m. that day.

Pradas has assured his ignorance in an interview in À Puntthe regional television of the Valencian Country. At 8:00 p.m. on October 29, the Secretary of State for Ecological Transition, Hugo Morán“He tells me that he is in Colombia, that he is learning about the situation, and he tells me that he cannot guarantee that the dam will not break,” the councilor said.

It is then that a technician informs them of the existence of ES-Alert, which was not yet regulated or included in the regional plans, since it was a draft pending approval by the Civil Protection Committee. “It is when they give us this information, I insist, the only verbal information regarding the Forata dam, that we decide to activate ES-Alert, a unanimous decision by Cecopi and advised by the technicians,” said the councilor.

However, the ES-Alert system was publicly presented in the Valencian Country on October 27, 2022, under the Government of Ximo Puigaccording to local newspapers at the time. The presentation took place at the L’Eliana Emergency Headquarters, where Cecopi is located. During the event, the general director of the Interior of the Generalitat, Salva Almenarled the demonstration, which included a first failed test and a second successful one of mass sending of alerts to local mobile phones.

Almenar pointed out that the system would be operational “in a few months” and explained that it would allow “direct messages to be sent to the population” with instructions in cases of emergency or disaster. In addition, the Generalitat sent this 2024 a circular on flood prevention in which he announced that the ES-Alert system had been active since this year.

Before sending the alerts and Morán calling Pradas, the Government delegate in the Valencian Country, Pilar Bernabetried to contact her three times – at 12:23, 12:48 and 2:00 p.m. However, the councilor maintains that in these communications Bernabé did not transmit any specific alert and that the first serious warnings came from the mayor of Utiel.

The ES-Alert alert system uses mobile phones to warn of natural disasters through direct messages to the population. This system works by sending alerts to a large number of devices simultaneously, without saturating the communications network. The GSMA, the international association of mobile operators, emphasizes that this technology allows messages to be sent to millions of phones in seconds without affecting the network.