The PP considers that the DANA that has devastated several autonomous regions, especially the Generalitat Valenciana, is a “a emergency of national interest” and should have been declared as such by the Government. on “the evening of Tuesday, October 29”, assuming its share of responsibility in preventive actions and alerting the population. In addition, it warns that “there is no time limit for this declaration of emergency and, therefore, “it is on time” even if “it is late”.
“The Government of Spain cannot look the other way and not assume its part of the responsibility. both in the preventive and warning actions to the population, as well as in the first hours of the emergency and in the recovery actions to be carried out”, assures the PP, which points out that the Executive “has the information and the capacity with its monitoring means to assess the seriousness of the risks” throughout the territory.
This is stated in an informative note prepared by the Partido Popular in the midst of the criticisms that have begun to cross Government and opposition on the responsibility for the declaration of emergency in the face of the DANA, which has caused more than 200 deaths and thousands of people affected, physically or materially.
Volcano of La Palma or Filomena
First of all, the PP recalls the regulatory framework in the face of this catastrophe, starting with Law 17/2015, of July 09, of the National Civil Protection System” (SNPC); Royal Decree 524/2023, of June 20, approving the Basic Civil Protection Standard” which regulates the bases for “the. improvement of 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 Act (SNPC) of 2015 (apart from the pandemic which was considered a health emergency), such as the volcanic eruption of La Palma in September 2021, the squall Filomena in January 2021, which affected several communities; and forest fires such as the one in Losacio (Zamora) in June 2022.
It also recalls floods, such as the floods of the Ebro in 2018, 2021, and 2024, and the floods in Cantabria in 2019, left substantial material damage, but no fatalities were reported in any of them. In addition, he adds that “in 2018, in the town of Sant Llorenç (Majorca) 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, continues the PP, “the perception of the enormous magnitude of the catastrophe was as clear from the first moment as in the one of last Tuesday, October 29”, since, as it emphasizes, the images “left no room for doubt that the consequences were going to be tragic“.
Emergency of national interest
The PP argues that the basic rule of Civil Protection establishes in its Article 9 that the General State Plan for Civil Protection Emergencies (PLEGEM) “is the framework planning instrument for the National Civil Protection Systemand contains the organic-functional framework, the mechanisms for the mobilization of capabilities and the coordination and management scheme of the Public Administrations.
It also highlights that the Directorate General of Civil Protection and Emergencies (DGPCE), as the managing directorate of PLEGEM, and its National Center for Monitoring and Coordination of Emergencies (CENEM), are ordinarily operating in alert mode and permanent monitoring, in connection, equally permanent, with the Emergency Centers of the autonomous communities.
In accordance with its nature, he continues, the PLEGEM “is always activated in this alert phase and permanent monitoring”, so that “the Government of Spain has the information and the capacity with its monitoring means to assess the seriousness of the risks” in the territory.
The PP reminds which are the emergencies of national interest, according to the Law of the National System of Civil Protection: those that require “for the protection of people and goods the application of the Organic Law 4/1981, of June 1, regulating the states of alarm, exception and siege”; those which are “necessary provide for the coordination of different administrations because they affect several communities and require a contribution of resources at a supra-autonomic level”; and those that “due to their actual or foreseeable dimensions require a national direction”.
There is no limit to the declaration of emergency
The PP stresses that the second and third points are fulfilled 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-autonomic level” and “the effective and foreseeable dimensions already on the night of October 29th to 30th required a national direction”.
However, he emphasizes that “there is no time limit for the declaration of Emergency of National Interest”, so that “the Government of Spain is still in time to assume its responsibilityeven if it is late”. “If, after this catastrophe, an Emergency of National Interest is not declared, points 2 and 3 of Article 28 should 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 its own initiative or at the request of the Autonomous Communities or of the Government Delegates in the same”. And warns that “the amount of resources involved in this emergency” caused by the DANA makes “very complicated its coordination for the emergency services of a community”. In addition, he underlines that many of these means “are very specific, such as the amount of aerial means that have participated in the first hours, with the great difficulty in the coordination and control that this entails”.
According to the PP, the Government has at its disposal “a specialized tool and perfectly trained in Command and Control for major catastrophes, such as the UME“as specified in the articles of the General State Plan for Civil Protection Emergencies (PLEGEM).
“The direction corresponds to the Minister of the Interior”
The PP admits that one point that “draws attention” is the announcement of the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor 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 made charge of the Emergency Management according to the SNPC Law (article 30), becomes an element of coordination of the Community with the State”, he emphasizes.
For all these reasons, the PP assures that the Government of Spain “cannot look the other way and not assume its share of responsibility” because this catastrophe is “a emergency of national interestwhere the direction corresponds to the Minister of the Interior and the Operational Direction to the Lieutenant General of the UME and should have been declared by the Government of Spain on the evening of Tuesday, October 29, once the impact of the DANA had been verified”.
“If we are talking about prevention or anticipation, the Government of Spain should establish regulations to regulate in what situations the Autonomous Communities can issue warnings to the population and what implications it has on the activity of companies, schools, means of transport, etc.”, he concludes.