The Government of Pedro Sánchez was able to take charge of the catastrophe caused by DANA from day one and without the need for the president of the Valencia Community, Carlos Mazón, to ask for help or intervention. The Executive has two tools for the State to take control of the actions; good declare the state of alarmas he did in the pandemic, or raise the emergency level to 3. Neither of these two measures conflicts with the Spanish Constitution nor is it equivalent to applying article ‘155’ of the Magna Carta to Valencia, as has been said, in which the State can intervene in a CCAA if it fails to comply with constitutional duties.
State of alarm
Alberto Dorrego, president of the Administrative Law Section of the Illustrious Bar Association of Madrid (ICAM), explains to this newspaper that the Constitution contemplates the state of alarm, exception and siege to give special powers to public authorities. This is regulated in the Law of States of Alarm, Exception and Siege, of 1981, which, as Alberto Dorrego explains, among the measures to declare it, specify natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, fires and major floodsin this case, like what occurred in the Valencian Community and, to a lesser extent, in part of Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.
“Since 1981, the assumptions that give rise to declaring the State of Alarm have been legally provided for. If this is the largest flood in our history, it is a textbook assumption,” indicates the Administrative Law expert.
Likewise, remember that the state of alarm was not only declared a pandemic, but also with the air traffic controllers’ strike. To declare a state of alarm, it is not necessary for the CCAA to request it either.as was seen during Covid, since the majority of Communities governed by the PP were against it and, even so, the central government applied it. All that is needed is the approval of the Council of Ministers of the Royal Decree that declares it and it comes into force immediately.
“The effects of establishing a state of alarm is that there is a single commandwhich is part of the State, although it can delegate functions to the president or advisors of the CCAA”, explains Alberto Dorrego. Furthermore, The State can manage public resources, but also private resourceslike any means of transportation or hospitals.
Alert level 3
Although according to the expert, the most correct option would have been to declare a state of alarm, the Government also had the possibility of raising the alert level to 3 and, therefore, taking control of the management of the tragedy.
The Civil Protection Law of 2015 establishes three levels of crisis intensity depending on different elements such as the severity of the catastrophe, the people affected or the necessary resources.
Level 1 and 2 imply that it is the CCAA that must take charge of management and level 3, more serious, passes management to the State. “It is up to the Minister of the Interior (in this case, Fernando Grande-Marlaska) to declare the alert level, that is what the law says“says Dorrego.
“Whether the CCAA asks for it or not, it doesn’t change anything.it is not a binding request that has effects on the decision,” he explains in this regard. However, he clarifies that if the Minister of the Interior on his own initiative declares level 3 (equivalent to an emergency situation of general interest), it is necessary to communicate it to the CCAA.
Article 155 does not affect anything
Finally, Alberto Dorrego denies that the fact that the Government manages the situation has nothing to do with it representing a kind of application of article 155 of the Constitution.
This article has nothing to do with what has happened or with the State taking control, indicates the expert, but only applies when a CCAA does not comply with its constitutional duties and, therefore, the Senate can approve the intervention of the central state.
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