The Ministry of the Interior exonerates itself and blames the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazónthe responsibility for the activation of territorial Civil Protection plans in response to DANA. Fernando Grande-Marlaska’s department issues a statement in which disassociates itself from sending this mass alertwhich was the responsibility, as he recalls, of the Generalitat, “as the governments of the autonomous communities of Madrid and Andalusia already did in past emergencies of similar characteristics.”
The Interior responds in this way to the demonstrations of Mazón, who assured yesterday that his Government followed all the protocols since Sunday to warn the population of the risks posed by the weather forecasts by DANA. “It is a protocolized system that has been followed, by all the technicians, the high command, coordinated by the different administrations, it is previously established and is coordinated by the Civil Protection of the Government of Spain,” Mazón said.
Given these «wrong information“, as considered by the Interior, the Ministry reiterates that “the activation of territorial Civil Protection plans in the event of an emergency of any type and its subsequent management is the exclusive responsibility of the regional authorities, which are competent in the matter.” Interior sources assure that they do not want to “hold anyone” responsible for the time at which they decided to launch the massive alert, but only to explain what the civil protection law says and the powers of each administration.
It refers, thus, to the criticism of the last few hours for the supposed late activation of the mobile alert of the Emergency Coordination Center (CEE) of the Generalitat Valenciana. The first it rang around 8:10 p.m. in all the terminals of the inhabitants residing in the province of Valencia, when it had been raining for hours and the damage was beginning to be extensive.
The Ministry of the Interior clarifies in its letter that when the competent agencies detect possible natural risks that may affect the population, they “issue notices to the autonomous Civil Protection agencies, which receive these alerts, carry out a risk analysis and evaluate their possible consequences. He defends that it is these regional authorities that activate the corresponding alerts», which may involve the activation of different plans depending on the type of risk.
In the case of the Valencian Community, where in towns like Utiel or Requena, one of the most affected, the dramatic images of the worst cold spell of the century in the region They began to see each other since Tuesday afternoon, the operational situation was that of the level 2. This means, as detailed by Interior, that the emergency can affect more than one municipality or province within the same autonomous community and that “the operational direction is exercised by the autonomous authority in Civil Protection, which activates the necessary personal and material autonomous means.” .
«In this operational situation, it is up to the autonomous Civil Protection authorities to ES-Alert protocol management to send alerts to the population that is in an area affected by emergencies or imminent catastrophes. In the case of DANA that has affected 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 already did in past emergencies of similar characteristics,” the statement reads.
At a press conference, Mazón insisted this Thursday, in response to the statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior, that “all protocols” were followed in the management of notices by DANA in the province of Valencia, reports Alberto Caparrós.
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