The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezrecognized this Saturday that “the response that is being given” to the crisis caused by DANA (isolated depression at high levels) “is not enough”, but rejected take control of the situation with the declaration of the national emergency or the state of alarm because it considers that it is time for all administrations to work “united” and put “ideologies” aside.
“There will be time to analyze negligence” and “to clarify responsibilities,” he remarked in an institutional statement delivered from the Palace of La Moncloa, where he met his crisis committee and spoke by phone with the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, to detail the Government’s new measures.
Sánchez stressed that it is “the most serious flood Europe has ever seen” “so far this century” and reported that the latest information available raises the number of confirmed deaths to 211 people. He thus acknowledged that the country is going through a “tragic” and “dramatic” situation and said he was “aware that the response being given is not enough.”
The head of the Executive refused to directly confront the Valencian Government of the PP. But he did urge the regional president to ask for more help because “the magnitude of this natural disaster” makes the number of troops deployed still “insufficient.”
“The central government is ready to help. If it needs more resources, it should ask for them. There is no need to prioritize some municipalities over others or prioritize tasks. It is prioritized when there is a lack of resources and that is not the case and it does not have to happen. Therefore, If the Valencian Community requires more personnel, machinery, financing or technical advice, what you have to do is ask for it and we will provide it to you,” he declared. “For this reason, I am glad that President Mazón has decided “raise its request for military personnel from 500 to 5,000”he added after confirming that he will respond to this request.
But he admitted that the State’s response must “improve.” “I know that there are severe problems and shortcomings, that there are still collapsed services, municipalities buried in mud, desperate people looking for their relatives, people who cannot access their homes, homes destroyed and buried in mud. I know that we have to improve and that we have to give everything. But I also know that we have to do it together, united“, said.
Debugging of responsibilities
He thus rejected declaring a national emergency or a state of alarm because “it is not now a question of the General State Administration replacing the autonomous administration”, but of “supporting” it and “helping it with resources and technical guidance.” “That is the fastest and most effective way to act at this precise moment. That’s the only thing we should all be worried about.“he added.
And he stressed that “There will be time to analyze negligence”to “reflect on how to improve the distribution of powers” of Civil Protection in the face of such extreme situations, “to talk about the importance of public services and their reinforcement” and “to look back, refine responsibilities and learn to be better” .
“But now we are in another moment and we must put all our efforts into the colossal task that lies ahead of us. We must forget our differences and put ideologies, territorial sensitivities and discrepancies aside: act as a single country united in diversity and in the face of adversity,” Sánchez continued.
The President of the Government thus stated that there is only “one enemy to defeat, which is the destruction caused by this catastrophe”, and we must “do it together” because “the lives of many citizens are at stake,” also “the dignity” of the people who have died, “the prestige of our country” and “the future of entire municipalities.”
With this, he appealed to the spirit that governed the country’s action in the face of the flood at the Biescas campsite, the 11-M and Catalonia attacks of 2017, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Filomena storm and the eruption of the La island of La Palma. “Let’s do it again, let’s add one more chapter to the story of overcoming and resistance, which It is the history of our nation, and let’s overcome this crisis together,” he concluded.
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